Shale gas field marks major milestone

China's first large-scale shale gas installation, the Chongqing Fuling field, has produced a total of 30 billion cubic meters of gas since operations began in 2013, according to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) Jianghan Oilfield Co.

The shale gas field, located in the Fuling district of Chongqing municipality, is being developed by China's leading oil refiner, Sinopec. It has reached its maximum daily output of shale gas — 17 million cubic meters —enough for the daily gas consumption of 34 million households.

China has about 26 trillion square meters of shale gas reserves, the largest in the world. It began extracting the resource in 2011, with Sinopec building its first shale gas well in Hubei province.