China’s Shale Gas 12 Times Conventional Gas Reserves, EIA Says
April 06, 2011, 4:19 AM EDTBy Dinakar Sethuraman
April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Deposits of natural gas from shale formations in China are 12 times higher than conventional gas reserves in the nation, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
Reserves from China’s shale rocks that are “technically recoverable” were at 1,275 trillion cubic feet compared with 107 trillion in proved gas deposits in 2009, the department’s Energy Information Administration said in a report yesterday. India has 63 million cubic feet in shale deposits compared with 37.9 trillion in conventional gas.
China produced 2.93 trillion cubic feet of dry gas, stripped of liquids, in 2009 and consumed 3.08 trillion. India’s output was 1.43 trillion and demand was 1.87 trillion, according to the report.
The world may have 6,622 trillion cubic feet of shale gas reserves, comprising 862 trillion in the U.S. and 5,760 trillion in 48 shale basins across 32 countries, the EIA said in its assessment.
China completed its first horizontal shale gas well after 11 months of drilling, according to China National Petroleum Corp.’s online newsletter on March 31. CNPC is working with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to explore Sichuan’s Fushun-Yongchuan shale-gas block and with Chevron Corp. on the Chuandongbei project as the country plans to triple the use of natural gas to about 10 percent of energy consumption by 2020.
--Editors: Jane, Ching Shen Lee, Paul Gordon
To contact the reporter on this story: Dinakar Sethuraman in Singapore at dinakar@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jane, Ching Shen Lee at jalee@bloomberg.net
