The development situation analysis and outlook of the Chinese shale gas industry

Influenced by the shale gas revolution in the U.S and outstanding contradiction between natural gas supply and demand on the domestic market, China gives top priority to shale gas development and utilization. Remarkable progress has been made in shale gas exploitation, technology and international cooperation since 2009. However, shale gas industry in China still faces many daunting problems such as imperfect mining right exit mechanism, environmental risk, immature technology, etc. Based on the successful experience of the U.S. shale gas development and lessons from China's sluggish growth of coalbed methane gas, countermeasures proposed in this paper are summarized as follows: making overall planning for shale gas development, perfecting mining right exit mechanism and solving the overlapping mineral rights issue, promoting technology research, strengthening environmental regulation of shale gas, and promoting the construction of shale gas supporting infrastructure. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.