Investment in Australia Shell shocked

摘要

To many Australians, the vast oil and gas deposits off the coast of Western Australia have come to symbolise what the lucky country is all about. In an age of shifting economic fortunes, the north-west shelf, as the region is known, is viewed as a bedrock of Australia's future. When Royal Dutch/Shell, a partner in the consortium developing the region, launched a takeover bid late last year for Woodside Petroleum, the project's Australian operating company, the federal government, led by a market-friendly prime minister, John Howard, was expected to approve it. But on April 23rd the government stunned the markets and almost everybody else when it rejected Shell's offer as "contrary to the national interest".