China National Petroleum Corp has signed a production-sharing agreement with Hess, a US energy company, to jointly develop unconventional gas reserves in northwest China.
Hess will provide expertise gained from its experience in North Dakota’s shale formations to help CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina, to drill the Malang block in the Santanghu Basin in Xinjiang. The two companies have already studied the 800-square-kilometre area and their agreement is the first for a shale resource in China.
Other Chinese oil and gas companies are also exploring the possibility of developing shale as a new source of energy for the country to exploit. The promise is...