China a long way off from shale oil development

China National Offshore Oil Corporation says progress will be “very slow”.

CEO Li Fanrong said this "very slow” progress could take from five to 10 years. China has 25.1 trillion cubic meters of exploitable onshore shale-gas reserves, the world’s largest, said China's Ministry of Land Resources.

Exploiting this massive reserve, however, presents peculiar challenges. The Chinese government owns the mineral rights to these reserves. There are also no pipelines and producers aren't sure that the retail price of oil and gas will be regulated at low levels to satisfy consumers.

Analysts noted there are a lot of above-ground risks" in China, and shale development is probably seven to eight years away.