ISTANBUL 

Chinese oil company China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) said on Thursday that it has discovered more than 165 billion cubic meters of shale gas reserves, state-run Xinhua News reported.

Sinopec, one of the three biggest oil companies in the country, announced it made the discovery of reserves in a field located at the junction of Hubei province and Chongqing municipality in central China.

The site of this discovery, named the Hongxing shale gas field, marked the emergence of another large-scale shale gas field in China. The gas reserves were found at depths between 3,300 and 5,500 meters (2,05 and 3.42 miles respectively).

The complex geological structure of the site made any efforts of exploration and development difficult, the company noted.

Through technological innovation, the Hongxing shale gas field has increased its single-well test production to 323,500 cubic meters per day, up from 89,000 cubic meters per day initially.

At present, Sinopec has established one shale gas field with reserves exceeding 1 trillion cubic meters – the Fuling shale gas field in Chongqing – as well as four smaller, deep shale gas fields, each with reserves surpassing 100 billion cubic meters, including the Hongxing field.