Linc Energy to finalize agreement with Chinese company

Peter Bond, chief executive of Australia’s Linc Energy Ltd., said that a Chinese company will buy 10-20% of the Brisbane-based company, and that the new investor is interested in an auction of Australian coal assets valued at A$1 billion (US$1.01 billion). Bond told Dow Jones Newswires that Linc and the Chinese company, which he did not name, will build commercial underground coal gasification (UCG). Several international energy companies are considering UCG as a technology which has the potential to tap into huge and otherwise inaccessible coal reserves. UCG could potentially help slow down climate change because the process involves burning coal where it is found, deep below the earth’s surface. The gases are then extracted with the use of special equipment. “It’ll be a relatively small stake,” said Bond. “But I think in the scheme of things it will be significant to the commercialization of underground coal gasification and gas-to-liquids. And it’ll be a significant revaluation of some of the assets within the group, including the UCG technology.” He added that the agreement is expected to be signed by the end of the first quarter. (March 19, 2012)