BEIJING - China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the country's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, said it has started building the country's first dedicated shale gas pipeline in southwest China's Sichuan province.

The 92.8-km pipeline will link gas wells in the Changning block to an existing gas line that leads to neighboring Yunnan Province, according to a report posted on the CNPC's website (www.cnpc.com.cn). The new pipeline is designed to have a daily transport volume of 4.5 million cubic meters.

However, the CNPC did not provide details on the wells nor specify when the pipeline will be completed.

Experts have estimated that China holds rich recoverable shale gas resources, though they have warned that a number of obstacles, notably technologies and costs, stand in the way of capitalizing on these reserves.

Although deemed too costly to extract, shale gas has been viewed as an important supplement for China owing to the country's soaring demand for energy amid rapid economic growth.