Friends who frack  How shale energy is bringing America and
China together  Despite their constant squabbles, there is one
area of industry where America and China are tentatively making
friends.  That is the field of shale energy, where
the controversial drilling technology known as “fracking” is
used to pump water into shale rocks to remove oil and gas.
Because the US has a huge amount of untapped shale reserves and
leads the world in extraction technology, it may be the on the
verge of total energy independence.  China also has great
prospects in shale, with gas reserves that may even be bigger
than the US’s and Canada’s combined.  But it lacks the expertise
to turn its reserves into energy. So Chinese companies are
chasing investments (paywall) in America’s shale industry to
access technology that can help it turn its reserves into
energy.  Chinese oil giant CNOOC has spent billions investing in
shale projects operated by America’s Chesapeake Energy. And more
Chinese companies are marshalling cheap loans