Beijing — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) started to drill its first shale oil well in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the company said in a statement on Monday
* The well, with a designed hole depth of 3,735 metres (12,250 feet), attracted 10.62 million yuan ($1.50 million) investment, according to a document filed to local county government
* Sinopec and CNPC are speeding up drilling and exploration from major tight and shale oil and gas formations in western China to boost domestic output
* However, China’s shale oil, making up less than 1% of the crude output, remains in an early development phase due to challenging geology and hefty development costs.
- Reuters
