Shell pulls back from shale in South Africa

Royal Dutch Shell is pulling back from its shale projects in South Africa due to lower energy prices and delays in obtaining an exploration licence for the onshore Karoo Basin, it said on Monday. A more than halving of crude oil prices since June has put high cost projects such as shale gas exploration in jeopardy around the globe, and Shell South Africa said waiting six years for a licence for Karoo had not helped. Chairman Bonang Mohale, who said the company was going to a "low cost holdi