China’s top shale gas field Fuling is expected to pump at a record 7 billion cubic meter (Bcm) in 2020, as operator Sinopec Corp. is set to add nearly 100 new production wells this year, according to a media report and a Sinopec official.

The Fuling Field currently has a total of 402 wells in production, pumping 17.755 million cubic meters of gas a day, according to a report published on Sept. 19 on the Wechat platform of state-run Chongqing Oil & Gas Exchange, citing local paper Chongqing Daily.

Forecast 2020 production at 7 Bcm will represent an increase of about 16% over the field’s output in 2018, said a Sinopec official based in Fuling. The official also confirmed the number of new production wells planned for this year.

China’s shale gas output could reach 280 Bcm, or 23% of the country’s total gas output, by 2035, according to a top researcher at PetroChina. China last year produced about 10.9 Bcm shale gas, less than 7% of the nation’s total gas output.