Sasol buying into TLM shale play for $1BLooks like NWU upgrader which is intended to produce diesel will have some competition. CNQ needs to come to Jesus on their JV with NWU. Note no $$$ in 2011 CNQ budget for NWU upgrader. Is this a sign? Sasol are the experts in coal and gas to liquids technology.
"South Africa’s Sasol is paying $1-billion to Talisman for a stake in the Montney shale gas play, as global energy giants increasingly pour capital into the promising British Columbia area in a quest for long-life reserves.
Sasol will acquire a 50-per-cent working interest in all Talisman lands, existing wells and processing facilities in the Farrell Creek region, which represents 22 per cent of Talisman’s resource potential in the Montney shale play – currently estimated to be a total of 44 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
As part of the deal, Talisman and Sasol will also examine the possibility of building a gas-to-liquids plant in Western Canada for making transportation fuels, a move that could provide a new, potentially lucrative market to soak up some of the glut of natural gas.
Mr. Smith said such a plant would allow the producers to benefit from the large spread between crude oil and natural gas prices."