(Photo/SCOL.com.cn)

PetroChina said on Dec. 24 that its shale gas base in southern Sichuan, China’s largest shale gas production base, has hit a daily production of 20.11 million cubic meters , accounting for about 4.2% of national daily output.

The base has produced 4.1 billion cubic meters of shale gas so far this year and is expected to reach 4.2 billion cubic meters by the end of 2018.

As one of China’s main production areas, the base has production facilities distributed in Yibin, Luzhou and Neijiang, all located in southern Sichuan. Exploration and development of shale gas poses many difficulties due to complex geological conditions although research suggests that China boasts the world’s largest shale gas reserves.

Since 2010, PetroChina has set up several national shale gas demonstration areas in southern Sichuan, including Changning and Weiyuan. It witnessed a sharp increase in its shale gas output thanks to reduction in exploitation cost and greater production capacity. Particularly, its base in southern Sichuan has seen exponential growth in terms of drilling machines, teams and workload this year.