Shell, Anglo to Delay Australian CTL Project

2 December 2008

Bloomberg. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Anglo American Plc have delayed plans to develop a A$5 billion (US$3.2 billion) coal-to-liquids project in Australia, citing higher costs. (Earlier post.)

The partners will extend studies into the proposed plant rather than move forward toward development, Roger Bounds, project director at the Monash Energy Holdings Ltd. venture, said in an e-mail. They still believe coal-to-liquids provides a “long-term” opportunity for the brown coal resources in Australia’s Victoria state, he said.

The decision makes the Monash Energy plan the latest low- emissions energy project to be slowed or scrapped even as Resources Minister Martin Ferguson promotes their development to increase energy supplies while cutting greenhouse pollution. Santos Ltd. and General Electric Co. last year canceled a low- emissions power venture in Queensland, while BP Plc and Rio Tinto Group in May dropped a plan to build a carbon capture power plant.

The partners have spent more than A$25 million on studying the viability of the project and will continue to assess “on a regular basis” the potential for moving it forward.