[NEWS] Shell Oil Bids $26 Million for Kansas Biofuel Refinery

Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer
– by Chris Prentice, October 14, 2016, Reuters
Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s U.S. arm has offered more than $26 million to buy Abengoa SA’s cellulosic ethanol plant in Kansas, according to documents filed late Wednesday in bankruptcy court.
Shell’s initial bid on Abengoa’s bankrupt biofuels asset marks the oil major’s latest push into renewable fuels as the U.S. government is getting its over decade-old biofuels policy back on track following years of regulatory delays.
“This move is in line with Shell’s strategy to develop biofuels” that use sustainable feedstocks, Shell spokeswoman Natalie Mazey said in an emailed statement.
For Abengoa, the potential sale is the latest step to shed its U.S. renewables assets as the company pushes on with efforts to avoid becoming Spain’s biggest bankruptcy after more than a decade of heavy borrowing to fuel an expansion into clean energy.