China's Lofty Goals for Shale Gas Development Just Pipe Dreams, Experts Say

(Beijing) – China wants to reap the benefits of a shale gas revolution similar to the one in the United States, but there are many obstacles to this happening, experts say.

In the first half of 2013, 56 shale gas wells were in the exploratory phase in the country, but only 24 were producing gas. Only six wells – all dug by either China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group) or China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) – had daily output capacity of 10,000 cubic meters or more. And all the shale gas blocks sold in the most recent round of auctioning were in the early phases of prospecting, meaning they had not produced a drop.