THE NEWS WRAP: Shell cuts hundreds of jobs at Queensland LNG project

Royal Dutch Shell has cut hundreds of jobs at its Arrow Energy coal seam gas venture in Queensland and agreed to sell its stake in the Wheatstone liquid natural gas project in Western Australia for $US1.135 billion.

The Australian Financial Review reports the job cuts appear to have doomed a $US20 billion-plus LNG project in Queensland.

It says the cuts were seen by sources within and outside the venture as a sign that Arrow’s gas is more likely to be sold to one of three other major LNG projects in the state.

Australian dollar falls as Chinese economy slows

The Australian dollar has fallen on the back of China’s slowing economy.

The dollar dropped to a new three-year low of 87.5 US cents Monday ahead of the release of China’s national accounts.

China’s annual growth figure of 7.7% for last year was the same as the previous year, although it was boosted by a stimulus package in September.

Rinehart pours more money into Roy Hill iron ore project

Gina Rinehart is continuing to spend millions of dollars on the Roy Hill iron ore project after securing loans in December.

The Australian Financial Review reports that documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show that a subsidiary of Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting made a $251.6 million down-payment.

The Roy Hill project is due to ship its first iron ore by September 2015.

Markets

US share markets were closed overnight for the Martin Luther King Jr public holiday. The Australian dollar is buying US88 cents.