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CNPC completes construction of first national-level shale gas pilot zone

Xinhua, January 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the country's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, has completed construction of its first national-level shale gas pilot zone.

The daily production capacity of Changning-Weiyuan national-level shale gas pilot zone in southwest China's Sichuan Province, exceeded the target of 7 million cubic meters on Wednesday, marking the completion of the zone, according to PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company, a CNPC affiliate, on Thursday.

The zone currently has 83 wells in the province's Yibin and Neijiang cities 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.

China has recently made breakthroughs in shale gas exploration, both in capacity and drilling techniques, as the country is moving to readjust its energy structure from reliance on coal, which has been blamed for foul air.

Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, announced in December that its Fuling shale gas project in southwestern Chongqing Municipality achieved an annual production capacity of 5 billion cubic meters.

This makes China one of the world's biggest shale gas developers, second only to the United States. Endi