Shell has officially made its first investment into Blockchain. Taking a small stake in the London startup Applied Blockchain, the oil giant is backing the investigation into how Blockchain technology could be useful within business. Whilst the investment price hasn\'t been released, it is known that it was made alongside fintech investment firm, Calibrate Partners.

Based in Canary Wharf\'s Level39 fintech accelerator, Applied Blockchain is technology focusing on smart contracts and distributed ledger. Moreover, it has been announced that it is already operating with telecoms company Sita – in the hope of creating a distributed drone registry – and Babb, another fintech startup, in an attempt to build a Blockchain bank. 

However, this isn\'t the first time that Shell has investigated Blockchain as they have previously joined BP and other oil industry giants to develop a Blockchain energy exchange platform.

Shell\'s chief technology officer for IT, Johan Krebbers, explained that Blockchain technology and applications have huge capability to change processes within the energy industry. He added that not only could it streamline procedures, but it would also make work simpler. He concluded by confirming that investing in applied Blockchain is an element of Shell\'s commitment to investigate digitisation to develop and create their business model.

Furthermore, experts at Deloitte have said that the use of Blockchain within the oil and gas industry offers exciting opportunities.