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The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell said they are committed to participation in the 5.2 billion US dollar west-east natural gas pipeline project, despite earlier reports that said negotiations with their Chinese partners has reached a deadlock.

Company officials said, however, that there is no deadline to conclude the negotiations, even though part of the pipeline is scheduled to begin commercial operation by the end of this year, the English newspaper China Daily reported Saturday.

"The west-east pipeline is a key project, and we are pleased to participate," said Yves Merer, president and managing director of Shell China Exploration and Production Co Ltd.

The 4,000-kilometer west-east gas pipeline will carry natural gas from the remote desert in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Shanghai, as part of the Chinese government's plan to encourage economic development in the mid-west region and to improve the environment in eastern coastal regions.

Four foreign companies, namely Shell, ExxonMobil, Russia's Gazprom and Sinopec Corp. came to a framework agreement with PetroChina, the nation's largest oil and gas producer, for developing the project last July, but have not yet concluded a legal contract. The prolonged negotiations has aroused a lot of concern.