Mass production of shale gas in the pipeline

The exploration and development of shale gas in China is accelerating with production in 2015 set to easily exceed this year's 100 million cubic meters, a senior official at the Ministry of Land and Resources, said on Friday.

"In 2015 we can achieve mass shale gas production with a goal of 6.5 billion cubic meters," Zhang Dawei, director of mineral resources and the reserves evaluation center at the ministry, said at a meeting on developing the gas sector.

"I think it is even possible to exceed 10 billion cubic meters if Sinopec and CNPC are able to reach their annual capacity of 5 billion and 2.5 billion cubic meters respectively," Zhang said.

There are three main companies exploring shale gas opportunities in China: China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group), China National Petroleum Corp and Yanchang Petroleum.

The number of shale gas wells reached 142 in September, with the main production bases in Sichuan and Chongqing, he said.

Zhang dampened speculation that the ministry is planning a third round of shale gas block auctions at the end of this year, saying that no date has been set.