The Chinese oil and gas company Sinopec has discovered a high-producing shale gas well with a flow reaching 258,600 cm/day (94 mcm/year) and reserves estimated at nearly 388 bcm, located at the Jinshi-103HK exploration well in the Sichuan province (southwestern China).
In 2019, Sinopec made another shale gas discovery in Sichuan by tapping into the Weirong shale gas field, located near the city of Zigong. The well, which has proven gas reserves of 125 bcm, started producing at 1 bcm/year in early 2021 after Sinopec completed construction of the first phase of the shale gas field. The planned second phase of the project, expected for 2022, will increase Weirong’s output capacity to 3 bcm/year.
Earlier in October 2022, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's economic planner, approved the construction of a 20 bcm/year natural gas pipeline connecting gas fields in Sichuan to Hubei (central China). In 2021, China had proven reserves of natural gas reaching 2,922 bcm, mostly located in the Sichuan basin, the Xinjiang autonomous region and the northeast, as well as in several offshore fields.