and there was a limited moratorium on shale oil projects- such...

and there was a limited moratorium on shale oil projects- such was the political unpalatability of the resource.

what I've been reticent to bring up here in the past is that cannel coal (which makes up a substantially amount of our deposit) is just shale oil by another name. and clearly there have been political and environmental concerns around it in the past.

which made me realise why NB always emphasised torbanite, even calling it a torbanite project, when clearly the bulk is shale oil.

I respected the approach because it makes sense to downplay the risky parts.

but now that the rubber is meeting the road, maybe the company is learning that perhaps the boffins at the queensland resources department aren't so easily fooled.

and perhaps these unusual delays and focus shifts speak to the fact that maybe the torbanite/bitumen project is being treated more as a shale oil project by the queensland government.

and that doesn't necessarily spell doom for the project as the queensland government is "welcoming" investment in shale oil projects in Queensland. but I think that invitation comes with a long long list of requirements that make the project "not so straightforward". and that may explain some of the delays and focus shifts.

but the fact we have to come to these conclusions ourselves is a huge huge problem.

all my non-expert opinion only. dyor.