China launches first shale gas tender offer

China launched its first tender offer for four shale gas blocks in the country’s southern region, underscoring its efforts to develop unconventional gas resources, the Financial Times reported. Shale gas is natural gas trapped in rock and extracted through a water-intensive process called “fracking.” While the US Energy Information Agency estimates that China has larger shale gas reserves than the US, it has not yet been extracted in China. The tender offer is not currently open to foreign bids, despite strong interest from oil companies such as Shell and BP. The six groups competing for the tender include PetroChina (PTR.NYSE, 601857.SH, 0857.HK), Sinopec (SNP.NYSE, 600688.SH, 0338.HK), CNOOC (CEO.NYSE, 0883.HK), Shaanxi Yanchang, China United Coalbed Methane, and Henan Provincial Coal Seam Gas Development.