SPP asked for the rebate to be extended to include export sales after environmental group Greenpeace pressured Australia's refiners not to buy oil from the $300 million Stuart shale plant.
SPP had warned that without the rebate extension it would have had to suspend production.
According to the project's proponents, if SPP's technology for baking oil out of rock could be perfected, it would unlock 20 billion barrels of oil lying in shale deposits near the central Queensland coast. That is several times the amount of oil which has been discovered in the Bass Strait.
SPP told shareholders last month it had sorted out most of the problems with the demonstration and was keen to develop a $500 million commercial scale project, which had been delayed due to cash flow problems brought on by unsold naphtha.
The company said it has 185,000 barrels of naphtha in inventory with an overall value of $14 million, which represents a major revenue stream for the project.
The decision is also a big victory for Resources Minister, Mr Ian Macfarlance, who faced strong opposition from within the Government to providing any type of assistance to the project.
