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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Australia
will fully acquire specialist carbon emissions offsetting company Select Carbon,
reported S&P Global with reference to
the company's statement August 3.
The move is Shell's first acquisition
for its nature-focused business division which invests in forests, grasslands,
wetlands and other natural ecosystems around the world.
"The scale of
Australia's rangelands, ecological diversity and integrity of intact primary
forests make this market a natural choice for Shell's first acquisition globally
for our Nature-Based Solutions business and to further scale Shell's investment
in this area here in Australia," Shell Australia Chairman Tony Nunan said in a
statement.
Select Carbon partners with farmers and other landowners to
develop carbon farming projects throughout Australia which aim to reduce
emissions and capture CO2 while benefiting biodiversity and local communities,
Shell said.
The acquisition will contribute to Shell's ambition to be a
net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner.
"This ambition also
involves working with customers to reduce or offset the emissions generated when
they use Shell products, such as through the use of carbon credits," the company
said.
Select Carbon has developed and manages a portfolio of over 70
projects covering 9 million hectares across various ecosystems and agricultural
uses in Australia.
Carbon farming uses agricultural and land management
practices that capture carbon in vegetation and soils or reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. By using the correct land management practices, farms can transition
from being net carbon emitters to carbon sinks.
The carbon credits
generated through Select Carbon's projects are offered through the Australian
government's Emissions Reduction Fund and other markets, creating an additional
revenue stream for farmers and landowners, Shell said.
Each Australian
Carbon Credit Unit generated through Select Carbon's projects represents the
avoidance or removal of 1 mt of carbon dioxide and is eligible to participate in
the Australian Federal government's Emissions Reduction Fund.
Australia
continues to be a priority market for Shell's investment in new energy
generation, offering a combination of strong growth in renewables, access to
natural gas and customer demand for low-carbon energy solutions, it
said.
The new acquisition complements Shell's moves into diversified and
emerging energy technologies, including the acquisition of Australian commercial
and industrial energy retailer ERM Power; the acquisition of Sonnen – a German
company with operations in Adelaide that provides battery storage systems and
solar panels for homes in Germany, Italy, the US and Australia; investing a 49%
stake in Australian solar developer, ESCO Pacific; and building Shell's first
industrial-scale solar power farm in central Queensland.
The acquisition
of Select Carbon is expected to be completed before the end of 2020 and is
subject to Australian regulatory approval, Shell said.
As MRC wrote before,
Shell will announce a major restructure by the end of the year as the company
prepares to accelerate its shift toward its net-zero emissions goal by 2050,
said CEO Ben van Beurden to employees. The restructuring will include workforce
reductions as part of broader cost-cutting measures, although no figures have
been decided yet, the CEO reportedly said during an internal webcast.
We
remind that Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans
to idle a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at the joint-venture Deer Park, Texas,
refinery in 2021, said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith in July 2020. Currently, the
refinery is operating at about 75% of its 318,000 barrel-per-day capacity
because of reduced demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethylene and
propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene
(PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report,
PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000
tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in
imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months
of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer
(homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
Royal Dutch
Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in
The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom.
It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six
oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every
area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production,
refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and
trading. |
