China’s First Large-Scale Shale Gas Field to Exceed 10 Billion m3/a

China’s first large-scale shale gas field, Fuling shale gas field, is now expected to exceed 10 billion m3/a in gas supply capacity, according to a March 21 announcement. This would mark success in China’s accelerated mass commercialization of its shale gas industry. Currently, fuling shale gas field sells 16 million m3 daily, the equivalent of 32 million households’ daily demand.
Three years ago, in March 2014, Sinopec prospectors seeking shale gas made a major breakthrough, and Fuling shale gas field enters commercial development phase in advance. In 2014 and 2015, the Ministry of Land and Resources determined that the total proven reserves in Fuling were 380.6 billion, making it the one of the world's largest shale gas fields, second only to the well-known one in North America. By the end of 2015, Fuling had successfully completed the first capacity objective of 5 billion m3/a, and it has now reached 7 billion. The company is now striving to build a 10 billion m3/a gas field operation, the economic equivalent of a 10 million t/a oil field.