Shares of Ivanhoe Energy rose 9 percent on Tuesday after the Canadian energy group said it had started exploration and development at its Sichuan gas project in China.

Shares in Ivanhoe jumped 50 Canadian cents, or 8.70 percent, to C$6.12 on the Toronto Stock Exchange as 2.3 million shares changed hands.

Ivanhoe Energy said in a statement from Beijing on Tuesday that its wholly owned subsidiary, Sunwing Energy, had initiated an exploration and development program at the 900,000-acre Zitong Block in China's gas-rich Sichuan Basin.

"Based upon previous drilling data and seismic surveys conducted by the Chinese, Sunwing's evaluations have indicated a potential gross natural gas resource of over five trillion cubic feet on this large block," the group said.

That amount of gas equals 833 million barrels of crude oil on a heating-value basis, it said.

"At $3 per thousand cubic feet of gas and before costs such as capital expenditures, production expenses and profit-sharing payments, the potential gross revenues from the Sichuan resource could amount to $15 billion over the life of the project," Ivanhoe said.

The Sichuan Basin, located in central China, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) southwest of Beijing, is the country's largest gas-producing region with a natural gas resource potential estimated by Chinese officials to be 260 trillion cubic feet.

The Sunwing subsidiary has a 30-year production-sharing contract with PetroChina, signed last year, to develop the Zitong Block.

($1=$1.31 Canadian)

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