Shale oil efforts gather momentum

PetroChina starts drilling work on 47 wells in Jimsar to unlock potential reserves

Intensified efforts by Chinese oil and gas companies to tap the country's huge shale oil reserves have started paying off, helping bolster the country's energy security, experts said.

The Xinjiang branch of China National Petroleum Corp, or PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, has started drilling work on 47 wells at the Jimsar shale oil field, using 36 drilling rigs, with work on eight wells already completed, the company said.