China Plans Shale-Gas Investment Floor to Tap Largest Reserves
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China, holder of the world’s biggest shale-gas reserves, plans to speed up exploration of the resource by asking companies including PetroChina Co. invest three times the minimum amount sought for crude oil areas.
The Ministry of Land and Resources is drafting rules that will allow it to seize blocks from companies that fail to invest at least 30,000 yuan ($4,747) per square kilometer annually, Zhang Jianfeng, a director at the ministry’s research institute, said in an interview today. Explorers will have three years to meet the requirement, he said.