Resumen de China's fracking future: challenges ahead
China issued its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) in 2011 and in 2012, its shale and other unconventional gas strategy covering the same period. The plan established four ambitious milestones, including completion of a nationwide shale gas survey and appraisal; a goal of 6.5 bcm of shale gas production by 2015, equivalent to 2-3% of projected 2015 Chinese gas production, and more than 60 bcm of shale gas production by 2020; development of suitable methods, technologies and equipment for China's shale gas survey, appraisal, exploration and production; and establishment of technical standards, rules and policies regulating China's shale gas development, including reserve survey, appraisal and certification, test and analysis, exploration and production and environmental measurements.
To understand which policies will most likely impact shale gas, it is important to look at the policies currently in place for other non-traditional extractive industries, such as coal-based methane. If shale were to be controlled under the same policies, companies operating in China's shale gas industries could potentially take advantage of its status as an'independent mineral' (approved 31 December 2011), as it opens shale exploration to more participants. Independent mineral status encourages the exploration of shale gas by foreign companies and induces competition via certain tax and administrative benefits.
Chinese shale projects abroad are another vehicle for China to acquire much-needed knowhow. Its oil majors had spent $6bn in acquiring shale gas projects in North America, working with local operators such as Chesapeake and Devon Energy, even before CNOOC's bid for Canada's Nexen. China's Lanzhou Haimo Technologies also announced in October 2012 that it will buy a 14.29%-stake in Houston-based Carrizo Oil & Gas's Niobrara shale oil and gas assets in Colorado for $27.5m, including 6,000 acres of territory located primarily in Colorado's Weld and Adams counties and associated infrastructure, including oil and gas wells.
