Shell posts gas find in deep Malaysia waters

Royal Dutch Shell said Tuesday its second major natural gas discovery off the coast of Malaysia underpins its strategy to develop a clean energy future.

Andrew Brown, upstream director for international operations at Shell, said the company made a natural gas discovery in the Majoram-1 well, a deep-water well located about 110 miles off the Malaysian coast.

"We have a long history in the region, and the addition of new natural gas resources this year ensures we are able to continue to provide cost-effective, reliable, cleaner energy options for the future," he said in a statement.

The company in its statement offered no estimate of the size of the discovery.

Analysis from Wood Mackenzie said Malaysia is on pace to become one of the largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas in the world.

The energy consultant group said Tuesday gas supply potential could grow by more than 55 percent to 42 million tons per year by 2022.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports Malaysia has about 83 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and is No. 3 in the world in terms of exports of liquefied natural gas behind Qatar and Indonesia.

Shell's gas discovery was its second in Malaysia this year.