On April 8, China discovered its first high-yield shale gas reserve in a Cambrian formation dating back 500 million years in Neijiang City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The reserve was found at a depth of more than 4,500 meters.

Amid high temperatures and complex crustal stress, workers discovered an exploitable area surpassing 3,000 square kilometers, containing nearly 2 trillion cubic meters of shale gas. A second field of comparable size is currently undergoing accelerated development.