Shell commits to drilling new wells to maintain Australian gas supplies

Royal Dutch Shell announced it would drill over a hundred new wells in Australia over the next two years in response to warnings of looming supply shortages as well as blackouts and brownouts in the east of the country in the past year.

The oil major said it would drill 161 new gas wells by the end of 2018 at its Queensland operations, sticking to its commitment to continue providing 10% of the domestic gas markets' needs.

Only a week before Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull pushed the country's gas producers to increase supplies to stave off warnings of a deficit in supplies over the next two years from the market regulator.