CNPC Completes its First National Level Shale Gas Pilot Zone

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has finished construction of its first national-level shale gas pilot zone.

Located in Sichuan province, Changning-Weiyuan national-level shale gas pilot zone’s daily production capacity exceeded the target of 7 million cubic meters on Wednesday, marking the completion of the zone, PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Co, a CNPC affiliate, said, reported Xinhua.

The zone now has 83 wells with an annual production of 2 billion cubic meters.

The first well was built in April 2010. The central government approved the construction of the pilot zone in March 2012, Xinhua said.

Chinese shale gas industry has made significant progress in recent years. Last month Sinopec’s Fuling shale gas project also in Sichuan basin went into commercial production. The project achieved an annual production capacity of 5 billion cubic meters.