Platts: Chinese shale gas still slow-going

China's latest shale gas bidding round had been intended to accelerate development by encouraging more players to participate but the process may not yield much results.

The Ministry of Land and Resources announced the winners of its second shale gas bid round on December 6, unveiling a raft of domestic state-owned companies and some private companies. The tender closed in late October and the ministry said it had received 152 bids from 83 companies for the 20 blocks on offer although one block was excluded after it failed to receive the minimum three bids.

State oil and gas companies such as Sinopec and PetroChina were glaringly absent from the list of winners and analysts attributed the result to other non companies -- eager to gain acreage -- submitting generous bids.

The oil and gas companies on the other hand, had a better understanding of the acreage on offer and therefore put up more conservative bids.  MORE