Royal Dutch-Shell Group says it will pour $600 million into the development of an onshore gas field in China.
The project represents a major foreign investment into China's natural gas sector.
Shell officials tell the Wall Street Journal they will spend the money over the next couple of years to develop and operate the field in Changbei. Natural gas will then be distributed to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong.
The field is expected to begin production in 2007 through a pipeline that is being built by PetroChina.
Shell officials tell the Wall Street Journal plans for the project have already been submitted to the Chinese authorities for approval.
