It is understood if the reserves are of an economic size, trial exploration will be launched and this will be followed by commercial development should it prove viable.
Both Shell and the Bureau are targeting the establishment of a synthetic transportation fuels and power industry and the two partners will invest some US$30 million during the exploration phase, according to the AFX news agency.
China has the fourth largest oil shale deposits in the world at 31.57 billion metric tons with Jilin holding some 17 billion tons of those deposits. The largest shale deposit holder is the US, followed by Brazil and Russia.
