Reuters: PetroChina hikes shale gas spending to more than $1.6 bln

Chinese state energy giant PetroChina plans to spend more than 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) on shale gas this year, sources with knowledge of the matter said, as domestic competition heats up after rival Sinopec announced a commercial find.

Faced with high drilling costs and the complexity of tapping shale gas, China has struggled to revolutionise its energy supplies. The top energy consumer wants to unlock what could be the world's largest shale gas reserves by emulating the hectic success of the U.S. shale boom.

PetroChina's decision to triple its shale gas spending from expenditures on the unconventional fuel over the past few years comes just months after Sinopec Corp lifted hopes that China is near a breakthrough by announcing a commercial find.

PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer, has also lifted its 2015 shale gas output target to 2.6 billion cubic metres (bcm), up from the previous 1.5 bcm, according to a company official and a government source.

That would represent only about 2.3 percent of China's total natural gas output of around 113 bcm last year.

"PetroChina wants to play catch up after Sinopec's success," said a government source who has been briefed on PetroChina's plans. MORE