Shell to Spend $1 bn Annually in China Shale Gas Sector

Royal Dutch Shell plans to spend at least $1 billion a year exploiting China's potentially vast resources of shale gas, the firm's top China executive has said.

Lim Haw Kuang, Shell's top China executive, told Reuters that fund allocation maybe even higher than $1 billion a year. "If there has been an adjustment to that pledge, it could only be an upward revision," said Lim.

China is estimated to hold the world's largest reserves of the unconventional gas. 

Shell in March secured China's first product sharing contract for shale gas. The US firm has tied up with China National Petroleum Corp, the country's top energy group and parent of PetroChina for shale gas operations.