ABSTRACT
China is the world's largest shale gas reserve country, with 1,275 trillion cubic feet of technologically recoverable resources. China's shale gas industry is still in its early stage of development, and state-owned enterprises at both central and provincial levels are conducting exploration and pilot demonstrations. The Chinese government is increasingly determined to develop shale gas as a main national energy source through policies stimulation and closer international cooperation. Although China is rich in shale gas resources, the complexity of geological conditions and the backward exploration technology will lead to excessively high production costs. United States shale gas production has grown rapidly in recent years with improvements in drilling and extraction methods, while increasing exploration efforts. According to US Energy 2011 Outlook from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the estimate of technically recoverable shale gas reserves of 827 trillion cubic feet more than doubled the previous estimate.
