Plans to harness new natural gas resources
As climate change is alarming policymakers, a string of oil companies are eyeing to harness China's plentiful unconventional natural gas resources, such as coalbed methane gas, deeply locked in China's bountiful coal reserves which is expected to reduce China's reliance on natural gas imports for decades to come.
Chinese companies such as the State-owned oil giant PetroChina, as the obligatory partners of any foreign company wanting to invest in coalbed methane in China, are aggressively extending joint ventures with overseas energy companies to shore up the country's unconventional gas reserves.
The Chinese companies establish a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with foreign contractors rather than a conventional joint venture arrangement which is seen in mining and manufacturing.