In March, the firm has secured China’s first product sharing contract for shale gas. Shell has also lined up China National Petroleum Corp as its partner for both shale gas and the Taizhou refinery project.
The company aims to construct a $12.6bn refinery and petrochemical complex in eastern China, according to Reuters.
In addition, Shell plans to relocate its global business unit for coal bed methane to China later this year, and set up a global research hub for unconventional gas and oil.
BP, Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil and Total are also trying to get a bigger slice of the Chinese market, where use of natural gas is set to triple this decade.
China is estimated to hold the world’s largest reserves of the unconventional gas, which can be unlocked from ancient shale rocks by ‘hydraulic fracturing’ technology.
