Shell Says China Shale Gas Drilling Encouraging

Royal Dutch Shell has said that its early drilling results for shale gas in China are encouraging and it now expects to make its development in the country a profitable proposition, Wall Street Journal reported.

Shell signed the first production-sharing contract to explore, develop and produce shale gas in China in March.

"It is geologically more complex, but I think we can achieve similar cost optimization and progress like we have done in North America. We think we can make this a profitable proposition, and that's what we're seeing with the encouraging results so far," Chief Executive Peter Vosel said at a press conference, WSJ reported.