Oceania Biofuels is latest company to halt biofuel project

Oceania Biofuels is halting a planned $339 million (€310 million) biofuels project in Gladstone for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel.

This news comes from a project status report from the Australian government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC).

The project, launched in 2022, was hailed by the Queensland state government as a great boost for the local community as the project was based on the east coast of Australia.

This renewable facility was supposed to come onstream next year, using waste tallow, canola, cotton seed and used cooking oil as feedstock to produce 350 million litres of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel per year.

The company selected Gladstone’s Yarwun Industrial Precinct in northern Queensland, home to the state’s LNG export port and Northern Oil’s waste-lube-to-base-lube recycling facility, as the site for its upcoming project.

Recently, several renewable and SAF projects worldwide have faced difficulties. US biofuels company Fulcrum Bioenergy’s waste-to-fuel plant near Reno, Nevada, shut down operations in mid-May 2024.

Across the continent reflecting a potential confidence crisis in the renewable energy sector Chevron, Shell, and bp have recently paused their European projects, signaling a shift in strategy.