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By Chris Prentice
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc's U.S. arm has offered more than $26 million to buyAbengoa SA's cellulosic ethanol plant in Kansas,according to documents filed late Wednesday in bankruptcy court.
Shell's initial bid on Abengoa's bankrupt biofuels assetmarks the oil major's latest push into renewable fuels as theU.S. government is getting its over decade-old biofuels policyback on track following years of regulatory delays.
"This move is in line with Shell's strategy to developbiofuels" that use sustainable feedstocks, Shell spokeswomanNatalie Mazey said in an emailed statement.
For Abengoa, the potential sale is the latest step to shedits U.S. renewables assets as the company pushes on with effortsto avoid becoming Spain's biggest bankruptcy after more than adecade of heavy borrowing to fuel an expansion into cleanenergy.
Shell has offered the sum as a "stalking horse" bid, whichserves as an initial base bid in the auction process, accordingto the filings. The company asked the U.S. bankruptcy court inKansas to expedite a sale hearing for Friday.
Abengoa has already auctioned off several of itsconventional ethanol assets. Its 25-million-gallon cellulosicplant near Hugoton, Kansas, can turn plant waste into anadvanced biofuel that qualifies for the country's Renewable FuelStandard (RFS) program.
Shell also has a sugar-ethanol joint venture with Brazil'sCosan SA Industria e Comercio and said earlier thisyear it wants renewables including biofuels and wind to become"essential" for the company.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Cynthia Osterman andRichard Chang)
