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c_m_33 t1_itt0o4x wrote

Gas is generally easy to find. Most of the sedimentary basins in China are lacustrine in nature, so they’re naturally going to have significantly more gas than many other places. It would be impressive if they actually made an oil discovery over there.

Also, discovery and development are two different things. Sinopec spent tons and tons of money in the US over the past decade and a half trying to learn how to extract hydrocarbons from shale. It takes specialized equipment and experienced personnel to make it happen. They have the know how, but they don’t have the equipment or people to produce it economically and safely (in regards to people and environment).

Oh, one more thing. China has a ton of very shallow large tectonic faults that are under stress. They have a rich history of massive earthquakes that caused severe loss of life. Hope they’re being very careful with how and where they’re drilling their wells.

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nova9001 t1_ittxa5k wrote

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/pros-cons-shale-gas.htm

>First of all, it's 5,000 feet below ground. To get a hold of it requires pumping hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids, which could contain hazardous chemicals, into the ground along with water and sand at high pressures. The result is "a super-salty brine, prone to bacterial growth, and potentially contaminated with heavy metals," the National Geographic wrote in its series on shale gas.
Furthermore, the large amount of water needed to drill for shale can affect water availability for other uses, potentially impacting aquatic habitats. As a byproduct, fracking produces millions of gallons of wastewater. The amount can inundate under-equipped treatment plants. In the past, improperly treated wastewater has been found discharged into river basins, polluting the surrounding environment. The potential also exists for fracking fluids to seep into aquifers if a well casing fails, posing a risk to ground water supplies.
The negatives don't end there. Drilling can disrupt lives, including heightened noise levels aided by the transportation of materials, construction of facilities and drilling process itself; deterioration of air quality with the rise of diesel fumes; and implications of potentially destroying communities' access to clean water, including additional costs and efforts to transport and store water sourced from elsewhere.

You can't avoid the negatives with shale gas mining.

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Time_Bike_3634 t1_itszj5j wrote

Let me save you the click

>China's Sinopec makes major shale gas discovery China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Sinopec, announced a significant shale gas discovery in the country’s Sichuan basin in southwestern China on Tuesday.

>With a daily natural gas production of 258,600 cubic meters and an evaluated resource capacity of 387.8 billion cubic meters, Sinopec described the discovery as “a major breakthrough for China’s shale gas exploration”.

>The Chinese national oil company said the discovery is also the first discovery in the Cambrian Qiongzhusi formation, adding that the find has significantly expanded shale gas reserves and would further promote shale gas exploration and production in the Sichuan Basin.

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FlightAble2654 t1_ittn4jf wrote

Welcome to daily 3.2-5.1 quakes. But don't worry it for national good.

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MississippiJoel t1_itx32kb wrote

They would probably consider the population casualties a fringe benefit.

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samhall67 t1_itu3odr wrote

And just as china tries to kick the can down the road, Mother Earth pulls it out of the way like Lucy punking Charlie Brown.

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sudodeadbeef420 t1_itsym5h wrote

Sweet, now china will be selling gasoline and competition for the middle east.

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nova9001 t1_ittxdv8 wrote

Shale gas cost way more to extract then the oil in ME. ME oil is generally the cheapest to extract because they contain the least impurities.

There's America is importing oil instead of extracting their own shale gas reserves. Just cheaper to import.

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[deleted] OP t1_itsywsv wrote

Natty. They take less off the market so Europe hopefully has an easier transition off ruzzian gas.

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[deleted] OP t1_ittv7yu wrote

[removed]

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FailOsprey t1_itxbcw6 wrote

I pretty sure our general strategy is to buy as much resources as we can from other countries before tapping into our own. By forcing people to buy lithium from elsewhere, we are increasing our domestic reserve. Since lithium can be reprocessed, even car and phone batteries have value in this regard.

We took a similar strategy to fossil fuels, but I think we are figuring out that the world will be fried by time we are the last people with oil left. We are fighting wars over oil right now, but wars will eventually be fought to keep it in the ground. It's good to have a domestic supply on hand for when shit goes fubar.

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