OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2014. The United States has scaled down its reliance on energy imports to the lowest level since the 1980s through the exploration of shale gas, outpacing even Russia for the first time since 2011 as the world's largest natural gas producer, reports the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald.

IHS data indicates that the "shale gas revolution" prompted rapid development of the chemical industry in the United States and has created 1.7 million jobs in the country.

In China, the production of shale gas is just about to accelerate. In 2015, national shale gas output is estimated to increase to 6.5 billion cubic meters from 1.5 billion cubic meters this year, and further grow to 15 billion cubic meters by 2017.

By the year 2020, the output is expected to surge to over 30 billion cubic meters, possibly upwards of 60 billion cubic meters, accounting for a fifth of the total natural gas output of the country, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources estimated.

Beijing has listed shale gas as a guarantee for national energy safety in the drive to adjust the energy structure of the country. As a result, during its 12th Five-Year Plan for 2011 to 2015, the government proposed several shale gas exploration projects.

The exploration, shipment and application of shale gas in China, however, will be tougher than in the United States due to differences in geographic conditions, techniques, infrastructure construction and political and economic systems, according to the 21st Century Institute of Macroeconomics.

It will be difficult for China to copy US shale gas exploration operations, the institute added.

The massive commercial exploration of shale gas in the United States has benefited from a complete network of natural gas pipelines, which stretch over 1.98 million kilometers. In comparison, China only has a small pipeline network running 48,500km, and most of the pipelines are owned by state-run enterprises.

The cost to explore shale gas on the mainland will also be immense, with experts estimating that if China wants to achieve the planned goal of producing 60 to 100 billion cubic meters of shale gas a year by 2020, it has to invest at least 400-600 billion yuan (USD65-98 billion) for exploration during the next few years, according to the report.