Statoil Seeks China Shale Gas Alliance

Statoil ASA is reportedlty in talks with Shenhua Geological Exploration on cooperating to jointly develop shale gas in China.

Upstream reported that the two companies have reached agreement on cooperation that could lead to a production-sharing contract.

The Norwegian company was one of the first multinationals to be attracted to China vast unconventional resources, but its ability to move forward with a Chinese partner has been hampered by the poor relationship between Norway and China after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident.

Any furthering of the relationship is likely only to follow an improvement in the relations between the two nations.

The Us Energy Information Administration has forecast that China could have 1,275tn cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources.