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Sasol scraps its US$15bn GTL facility project in Lousiana (US)

The South African oil company Sasol has decided to scrap all its gas-to-liquids (GTL) greenfield projects, including the US$15bn Lake Charles planned facility in Louisiana (United States) as per its new refined corporate strategy. The volatile external environment and the structural shift to a low oil price environment are the main drivers of this decision and the project is now viewed as uneconomic. However, Sasol will continue to focus on completing its US$11bn Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) in the United States, which is currently 79% complete.



Sasol announced plans for the Lake Charles GTL complex in 2012, when the price of oil averaged US$100/bbl. The final investment decision (FID) has been repeatedly delayed since January 2015 until now. The 96,000 bbl/d (or 4 Mt/year) plant would have converted natural gas into diesel and other refined products. It would have been delivered in two phases, with each phase comprising 48 000 bbl/d.



Sasol has also decided not to invest in any additional crude oil refining capacity and to divest its Canadian shale gas assets to its partner Progress Energy.