EnergyWire: Shale gas part of big picture in U.S.-China relations

While U.S.-China investment in each other's energy sectors is more dynamic than meets the eye, political uncertainty is clouding the picture for future business deals and energy cooperation.

Most of China's top leadership positions will change hands by the middle of next year. Yet that reality, and a slowing Chinese economy, has not slowed China's pursuit of fossil fuels at home and in North America.

Experts at U.S.-based think tanks said Friday that China's pursuit of oil and natural gas invites the United States and China to cooperate. There's money to be made and technological know-how that could trump political tensions in other areas.

For U.S. companies, there are potential business deals in China's shale gas basins. And in the past year, China has injected capital into North American unconventional oil and shale gas operations.  MORE

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