Chinese oil majors will struggle to extend fast growth in shale gas production beyond 2025, as complex geology and failure to draw in more investors make it expensive to develop unconventional resources. That would be a blow to China’s efforts to cut its reliance on gas imports, presently 42% of total consumption. It would also mean Beijing will have to step up the development of other costly gas resources in its remote northwest to meet demand, as the country steers away from coal to achieve climate goals. The world’s top energy consumer started producing shale gas in southwest Sichuan in 2012, inspired by a U.S. shale push, and has doubled output in the past two years to 20 billion cubic metres (bcm) […]