Water Availability and Shale Gas Development in Sichuan Basin, China

Sichuan Basin is one of the most prospective shale-gas production areas in China. Key to developing these unconventional natural gas resources in the region is the water availability and other environmental issues including management of wastewater generated from hydraulic fracturing. This serves as the focal point of this study. Using the tool of statistic, this study considered the water usage trend using water withdrawal data of domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors over the past 10 years. On the basis of historical water usage, the water demand for the next 15 years was projected to build a baseline water withdrawal scenario in the region. In addition, based on current national shale gas production target and production profile of Sichuan shale gas wells, a well development rate was estimated to assess water withdrawal and consumption of shale gas production for the next 15 years. We furthered derived a range of representative values spanning low-, average-, and high-impact of shale gas development on regional freshwater resources. Based on our analysis, the result characterized the spatial and temporal variability of the impact of Sichuan's shale gas development on regional water resources.