A shale gas well has been discovered for the first time at a farmland undergoing urban development in the city of Kaifeng, Henan Province, a breakthrough in shale gas detection.

The Mouye No.1 well was discovered in a farmland in Xiangfu district in Kaifeng, with a reserve of 12.7 billion cubic meters, the provincial land resources department told the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday.

Xinhua quoted experts as saying that detecting shale gas resources in city planning areas is of great importance for developing and exploiting future energy resources for cities.

However, Lin Boqiang, director of the Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that it will be more difficult to exploit shale gas wells near populated areas because of the pollution and noise caused by such explorations.