Mathew Dunckley and Angela MacDonald-Smith
The Chinese economy could be in worse shape than official figures suggest, threatening demand for Australia’s resources at the same time as increasing international competition and rising costs spell trouble for this nation’s fledgling gas boom, says one of Royal Dutch Shell’s top global executives.
Shell global downstream director Mark Williams said the energy giant was experiencing the equivalent of recession-level demand for key products such as diesel at the same time as China, one of the single largest markets, was posting official reports of strong growth.