Now, I'm not arguing that a boost to production is a bad thing, especially for a warmonger, but what IS bad about the Shale Plant is that it is one of the few UB that do not match up with its Civ's UU. By the time you get Shale Plants, Samurai are long obsolete - there's no chance to do a powerful "double whammy" punch of both a UB and a UU at the same time. Very few Civs are stuck in such a situation, and usually the ones that are have a comparatively strong UB or UU to compensate. For example, the Americans get shopping malls fairly early on and navy seals much latter, but both are strong enough to stand alone. By comparison, both the Japanese UU and UB are "average" in power, so they seem fairly weak when you consider the fact that you will only be able to take advantage of one at a time. That's my theory, anywho.
Journalists.
