China has a slender chance of becoming a major shale gas explorer in the middle term due to the obstacles in the way, stated Mckinsey at the World Shipping Summit in China.

China has 1,115Tn cubic feet of technically exploitable shale gas, more than the US reserve of 665Tn cubic feet, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.

However, China's LNG market is monopolised by state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and it will take some time to make a full implementation of market pricing, said Steve Saxon from Mckinsey.

At present, no pipeline goes through the regions with shale gas and there is no infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, to transport exploitation and production equipment these areas, Saxon pointed out.

It needs at least $100-200Bn investment to achieve China's goal for shale gas by 2020, he added.

The depth of China's shale gas reserves would take explorers more time and money to perfect their shale gas technology, according to Saxon.

Mckinsey projected that global demand for crude oil will drop in future and the utilisation of crude oil carriers will fall to the lowest level in 2015.