Total to drill for shale gas with Sinopec in China

• Total (TOT +0.8%) plans to seek shale gas with Sinopec (SNP -0.4%) by drilling in Anhui province, moving the European energy company closer to exploiting Chinese reserves.
• The companies will drill for gas this year and next in the 1,500 sq. mile Xuancheng permit near Nanjing after carrying out two-dimensional seismic surveys in the five months through February.
• China has set a national output target of 6.5B cubic meters of shale gas by 2015, and as much as 100B cubic meters by 2020.