Shell to take up to $2 billion writedown on Singapore and Rotterdam plants

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) -Shell will take an impairment charge of up to $2 billion after the sale of its Singapore refinery and pausing of construction of one of Europe’s largest biofuel plants, it said on Friday.

The British energy company had announced on Tuesday that it would halt construction at its Rotterdam plant in the Netherlands because of weak market conditions. The biofuels plant was slated to have annual capacity of 820,000 metric tons a year and begin operations next year.

Shell (LON:) said the decision will lead to a non-cash, post-tax impairment of between $600 million and $1 billion when it publishes second-quarter results on Aug. 1.

At the same time, Shell expects to take an impairment of $600 to $800 million on the Singapore refining and chemicals hub that it agreed to sell in May.