CHINESE geologists have struck a high-yield natural gas well in the landlocked southwestern province of Guizhou which could become a sizeable production site outside the traditional gas-rich Sichuan basin, Xinhua News Agency reported.

    China Geological Survey, a specialist prospector under the Ministry of Land and Resources, sunk the Anye-1 well at Zheng’an County, a poverty-stricken region in Guizhou Province, and tested from the well a daily gas flow of more than 100,000 cubic meters.

    “This is the first discovery of a high-yielding marine-based tight gas deposit... the first significant find outside the Sichuan basin,” the Xinhua report said, citing the geology bureau.

    A government source said the geologists were primarily hunting for shale gas in that block, but unexpectedly hit the tight gas layer at about 2,000-meter deep, much shallower compared to many wells in the Sichuan basin at a depth of 4,000 meters or more.

    China, the world’s top energy user and third-largest gas consumer, aims to boost natural gas usage to supply 15 percent of its total energy needs from less than 6 percent currently.

    Natural gas emits half of greenhouse gases of coal, the main fossil fuel consumed in China.

    But this ambition is hitting snags because of a lack of market access by independent companies in a sector dominated by State energy giants, an inflexible pricing mechanism and limits on infrastructure.

    The government has also moderated its ambition in tapping the country’s vast shale gas resources because of challenges operating in the more complex geologic formations and a lack of water resources.(SD-Agencies)