Shell abandons plans for natural gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana

• Katie Colaneri
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  Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

Royal Dutch Shell will not be going ahead with plans for a $12.5 billion gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana, the company announced today.
The plant would have used natural gas feedstocks to make more valuable diesel and gasoline, and is one of three major projects the company was exploring in North America. Shell has also proposed building an ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania and a liquified natural gas plant in Canada.
Outgoing Shell CEO Richard Voser said recently that the company would have to make “hard choices” about where to invest capital.
More on the situation in Louisiana from the Associated Press:

The decision comes just two months after Shell selected a site for the plant. It would have created 740 jobs, according to a late-September announcement that championed the plant’s location in Ascension Parish, near Baton Rouge.
Shell, based in the Hague, Netherlands, said Thursday that the cost of the plant and the expected profit it could generate made the plant “not a viable option.”
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration had offered an incentive package that included $112 million for road improvements, land purchasing and other infrastructure in Ascension Parish.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has said he expects to know the fate of the Beaver County ethane cracker project sometime next year. Meanwhile, Corbett is doing what he can to convince Shell to seal the deal by pushing for large tax breaks and touting the thousands of jobs it could bring to western Pennsylvania.
The Associated Press recently reported Shell has an option to buy the proposed site in Monaca which is now owned by Horsehead Corporation and has chosen two engineering firms to conduct feasibility studies and pre-project planning.

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