This is a negative piece from Resilience.org. You gotta consider the SOURCE here; I like Resilience.org, but I’m not sure that the site’s take on fossil fuels (negative) doesn’t color at least SOME of the coverage.
With that caveat, read the whole thing here. I like the final paragraph posted here (of course) — a free translation into English of Corporate-ese.
The excerpt:
When Royal Dutch Shell pulled the plug on its U.S. gas-to-liquids project recently, the company offered the same explanation it used when it shut down its oil shale project earlier this year: Shell sees better opportunities elsewhere. This explanation–much like the I’m-resigning-to-spend-more-time-with-my-family explanation–tends to deflect questions about why things aren’t working out.
What’s not working out for Shell is a planned $20 billion plant in Louisiana designed to turn natural gas into diesel, jet fuel, lubricants and chemical feedstocks, products typically produced by oil refineries. The plug was pulled, however, while the project was still in the planning stage.
Shell did actually say a little more about why it is abandoning the project in this almost inscrutable piece of corporate prose:
Despite the ample supplies of natural gas in the area, the company has taken the decision that GTL is not a viable option for Shell in North America, at this time, due to the likely development cost of such a project, uncertainties on long-term oil and gas prices and differentials, and Shell’s strict capital discipline.Now, here’s the same paragraph translated into simple English:
The plant is going to cost a lot more to build than we thought it would. Natural gas prices are going up and could easily make it uneconomical to produce diesel and jet fuel from natural gas when compared to making them from oil. And, we don’t have unlimited funds to spend on everything we think of just to see if it works.
Bottom line for the EleBlog: Just because Resilience.org has a point-of-view, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong about everything. It seems to be extremely relevant in looking at what Shell has done here, and offering a possible explanation of what’s really going on.
Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=12135
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