Technology fires up Shandong Energy's development

Visitors to the shale oil production base in Longkou, a coastal city in Shandong province, don't smell the usual tainted air. Instead, they are met with fresh air, clean roads and large patches of grassland at the plant.

The plant run by Shandong Energy Group represents the group's move into the shale oil business.

During the past three years, the group, which used to focus on coal-related industries, extended its industrial chain to cover electricity, oil and gas, in a bid to maintain momentum in the context of the sluggish coal market.