Before any suggest we should be spending government dollars the same way...
In the US, with private industry:
The average drilling and completion cost for Cabot’s 2015 program is expected to range between $6.0 million and $6.5 million per well for an average lateral length of 5,300 feet and reflects the impact of recent operating efficiency gains and recently negotiated reductions in service costs.
http://marcellusdrilling.com/2015/02/cabot-cuts-2015-budget-44-will-drill-70-new-marcellus-wells/
Chinese have very few alternatives to keep their economy chugging and to prop up employment.
Developing one’s own resources is a smart way to do it.
Gosh isn’t government wonderful!
We should let the government pay for drilling here!!
I am sure it will be cheaper, and be done more wisely once all their environmental rules are applied
For example, for ultimate safety to the environment they could regulate that you can drill anywhere there are people or where there might be messy oil.