Data revolution before shale revolution
China needs to replicate the US approach of making more data available before it can hope for game-changing shale production growth
A September shale gas discovery by the PetroChina arm of China ‘big three’ oil firm CNPC, in the Sichuan basin, has been hailed as a breakthrough because of the shallower-than-usual depth at which it was made. But it will make little difference to China’s likelihood of hugely undershooting its 2020 shale gas production target. Beijing remains hopeful that funding shale gas exploration will help reduce China’s growing reliance on gas imports, as part of a wider growing concern over the country’s energy security in the wake of geo-political tensions with the US and its significant Asian naval strength. But analysts argue that root-and-branch reform of the structure of the Chinese gas industry
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19 February 2026
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has grown its business rapidly since exporting its first cargo a decade ago. But Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin tells Petroleum Economist that, as in the past, the company’s future expansion plans are anchored by high levels of contracted offtake, supporting predictable returns on investment
19 February 2026
Growth in LNG supply will surpass the rise in demand in 2026 for the first time in years, according to Mike Fulwood, senior research fellow at the OIES, but lower prices are likely to encourage fuel switching and could create more demand on a permanent basis
19 February 2026
Awais Ali Butt, manager for sales and business development at Pakistan LNG Ltd, discusses LNG’s role in energy security across developing, price-sensitive economies, as well as examining trade-offs between buying strategies and the impact of lower prices and policy on import behaviour
19 February 2026
LNG’s technical maturity, availability and price, as well as regulation, have driven its rapid adoption as a marine fuel, yet its future in shipping will depend on transition policies and progress in cutting methane emissions and scaling bio- and synthetic LNG, according to Carlos Guerrero at Bureau Veritas
