Chongqing municipality has recently signed a “Strategic Cooperation Protocol on Developing and Utilizing Fuling Shale Gas” to establish a development and utilization cooperation mechanism for shale gas and to build Chongqing a highland of the shale gas development and utilization.

Chongqing is endowed with good shale gas resources, therefore it has a big potential for shale gas development and a good pre-condition for a large-scale development and industrialization. Industrialized development of the shale gas will be beneficial to improving the energy structure and to promoting energy conservation and emission reduction. Chongqing will take signing of this strategic cooperation protocol as a new opportunity to further strengthen exploration and development of the shale gas, to expand construction of such supporting infrastructure as the pipelines, speed up transformation and industrialization, so as to promote the building of Chongqiong mid-term and long-term energy guarantee system, to foster emerging industries and to build an important development base for exploration and development of the new energy.

As per the protocol, the two parties will strengthen cooperation on systematic construction in the fields of shale gas exploration, development, utilization, transportation and distribution. The two parties will work hard for a target of 5 billion m³ per year shale gas capacity at Fuling by the end of 2015. The comprehensive utilization level of shale gas will also be enhanced so as to promote development of Chongqing shale gas equipment manufacturing industry.