Shell and Unocal Withdraw from East China Sea Gas Project

Royal Dutch/Shell and US-based Unocal Corporation announced on September 29 that they have withdrawn from the large-scale gas project for joint exploration, development,and marketing of natural gas resources in the Xihu Trough of the East China Sea citing "commercial reasons." The pull-out by their overseas partners leaves Sinopec and CNOOC - the second and third largest domestic oil firms - the only operators in the project.