Looking far off into the east: Royal Dutch Shell plans to spend at least $1 billion a year exploiting China’s potentially vast resources of shale gas, the firm’s top China executive says, part of an aggressive strategy to expand in the world’s biggest energy market. As Reuters reports, Shell in March secured China’s first product-sharing contract for shale gas, hoping that getting in early will allow it to become a big beneficiary from the sort of boom in shale that has transformed the U.S. energy market. Get more details in the full story here.
After the fire: The chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board toured the scene of the Chevron refinery fire in California on Monday and released photos of the gigantic vapor cloud that loomed over Richmond before it caught fire, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. Calling the Aug. 6 accident a “close call” that could have had an “extraordinarily bigger impact on the community,” Rafael Moure-Eraso says he hopes the agency’s investigation will offer lessons to the troubled industry. Read the full story here.
It’s gonna take plenty of money: GE Capital, Franchise Finance is extending a $45 million senior secured credit line to Baton Rouge-based Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, according to a news release. The deal refinances an existing term loan held by the chicken fingers chain, and provides a revolving line of credit. A portion of the funding was provided through GE Capital bank affiliate, GE Capital Bank. Raising Cane’s now has 131 restaurants in 16 states.
