Platts: China shale blocks see some progress but challenges abound: ministry

Some progress has been made in most of the shale gas blocks that were awarded in China's second shale bidding round early this year, with a few wells likely to be drilled soon, the Ministry of Land and Resources said Monday.

The bid round was held in Q4 last year, with the results announced in January. The ministry awarded 19 blocks to 16 domestic companies, none of which had any oil and gas experience. Coal and power companies won eight blocks, while the rest were awarded to investment companies set up by local governments.

In a report on its website, MLR said most of the companies had completed 2D seismic acquisition and were at the tender phase for drilling work.  MORE