JULY 15, 2011
By EDWARD WELSCH
CALGARY, CanadaRoyal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday it plans to sell its stake in a long-stalled, C$16.2-billion (US$17 billion) natural-gas production and pipeline project in Canada’s far north, as well as its other assets in the region.
The fate of the Mackenzie Gas Project, which envisions bringing natural gas from fields bordering the Arctic Ocean to markets in North America, has long been in doubt. But Shell’s departure from the project marks the surprise capitulation of one of the project’s oldest and biggest partners. Consortium members have weathered years of regulatory review and roller-coasting gas prices, betting that the region’s gas trove would one day be economical.