TAIYUAN, July 24 -- The output of unconventional natural gas in north China's Shanxi Province increased by 5.7 percent year on year to 6.82 billion cubic meters in the first half of 2023, achieving a new historical record for the same period, local authorities said Monday.

Shanxi is a major coal province in China and also possesses abundant resources of unconventional natural gas, including coalbed methane, tight sandstone gas, and shale gas, according to the provincial statistical bureau.

By the end of 2020, the province had accumulated a total proven geological reserve of unconventional natural gas of over 1.06 trillion cubic meters.

Shanxi aims to become a national unconventional natural gas base in the province's 14th five-year development plan (2021-2025).

In recent years, Shanxi has witnessed a rapid increase in unconventional natural gas production, rising from 8.15 billion cubic meters in 2020 to 11.33 billion cubic meters in 2022, with an average annual growth of nearly 1.6 billion cubic meters.