China, Current Importer of Shale Gas Will Soon Produce
At present, China does not have any shale gas production and evaluation of the potential resources is only at a preliminary stage, according to PetroChina Deputy General Manager Liao Yongyuan.
The largest oil and gas producer in China will import 80 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year by 2015 while actively building state commercial gas reserves as well as its own operational gas reserves, Liao said.
China imported about 7.6 Bcm of gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via three major receiving terminals in 2009 and shipped in over 1.5 Bcm of gas from central Asia in the first half of this year via China's first cross-border pipeline, operated by CNPC.
The line will pump up to 40 Bcm of gas to China by 2012-13 when CNPC is also expected to start operating China's second cross-border gas line linking Burma that has designed shipping capacity of 12 Bcm per year.
CNPC plans to start operating its first two LNG receiving terminals in April next year via its listed arm PetroChina.