Guizhou and CNPC may cooperate to exploit shale gas

A shale gas development and prospect seminar was held in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, on December 27, during which Xu Bo, a researcher from the economic and technology research institute of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), expressed the intention to exploit Guizhou's shale gas in cooperation with the Guizhou government.

According to the data from the Ministry of Land and Resources of the People's Republic of China, Guizhou, with 10,480 billion square meters of shale gas reserves, which ranks in the top three in China and accounts for 12.79 percent of China's shale gas reserves, has a huge advantage in the field of shale gas development.

Guizhou, a mountainous area that lacks petroleum and natural gas, is abundant in coal resources. It is a province with single-structured energy resources.

The development of shale gas, which is a new energy resource exploited from shale bed, will resolve Guizhou's energy shortage and boost economic development.

The exploitation of shale gas in China mostly depends on CNPC and Sinopec. The cost has remained high due to the fact that exploitation takes up significant land and causes environmental problems.

Early in 2012, companies and research institutions in Guizhou began to join efforts to conduct research and practices on shale gas exploration and exploitation.

After two years of effort, the research achieved breakthroughs in exploiting technology.

According to Xu, the development of shale gas is a long-term strategy. The development cost will gradually decrease as the technology improves.

"We should take full advantage of shale gas resources to change the energy structure," said Chen Jian, head of the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Department.