Damon Evans, SINGAPORE: News that PetroChina has discovered shale gas in China’s Sichuan basin has cast the spotlight back on the country’s unconventional gas sector. But, despite a number of particularly bullish reports, the find will not revolutionise the play overnight; rather, they are the first step on what may be a very long journey.
PetroChina has drilled around 20 wells on its shale-gas acreage in southern Sichuan province and initial results have been positive: with each well producing more than 10,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of gas. The firm’s shale acreage includes the Changning and Weiyuan blocks.
On the nearby Fushun-Yongchuan block, a joint venture between PetroChina and Shell has drilled several shale-gas exploration wells, with at least one hole producing gas. But the Chinese national oil company is still assessing the exact size of the potential reserves and that converting the new...