Mandarins of shale

13 June 2014 By Kevin Allison

Beijing wants Chinese drillers to grow output from fracking to a third of current U.S. levels by 2020. That’s a stretch, but on plausible assumptions the PRC could get there within a decade. New discoveries and further JVs with the likes of Texas-based FTS would help, too.

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Oil's new age of plenty challenges old assumptions

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The International Energy Agency said on June 10 that China might be able to achieve half of its 2020 target of boosting shale gas output from virtually zero to 60-100 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year.

The global energy watchdog also said it had grown more optimistic about China’s short-term drilling prospects. State-run oil producers Sinopec and PetroChina recently announced new shale growth forecasts that would exceed a government target of 6.5 bcm of shale production by 2015. The IEA had previously been skeptical of that target.

U.S. shale gas production is forecast to hit about 270 bcm this year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, up from about 20 bcm in 2005.

Hydraulic fracturing services group FTS International said on June 10 that it had entered into a 15-year joint venture with Sinopec. FTS, based in Texas and formerly known as Frac Tech Services, said it was the first collaboration of its kind.

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