Royal Dutch Shell is optimistic about production from the 618,000 Permian Basin acres it acquired from Chesapeake Energy for $1.94 billion. The holdings could produce more output, said Shell Oil President Marvin Odum, adding that the company seeks to increase the number of drilling rigs there. "This is a relatively small payment for a lot of resources that are reasonably well-proven, but yet to be developed, and a very nice suite of acreage that's more in the appraisal/exploration phase," Odum said.