Shell Plans $1 bn Annual Investment in China Gas Projects

Royal Dutch Shell plans to invest around $1 billion annuallyin its upstream businesses in China, a move based on the country's surging natural gas consumption, China Daily has reported.

"There is huge potential to come in terms of the natural gas market in China," Peter Voser, the company's chief executive officer, said on Tuesday in Beijing.

He said the company's investment scale will change depending on how successful its current projects are in the following years, as unconventional gas exploration is a "very complicated process" that takes longer time than conventional gas exploration.

Cooperating with China National Petroleum Corp, Shell has two gas blocks, Jinqiu and Fushun-Yongchuan, in Sichuan province, an area rich in gas reserves.

The company has drilled 13 out of 21 planned wells in Jinqiu, a project with a daily output of110,000 cubic meters. It will complete the 21 wells by April 2013, the company said.