BRISBANE (REUTERS) - Royal Dutch Shell plans to invest US$30 billion (S$38 billion) in Australia over the next five years, the firm's outgoing chief executive Peter Voser said on the sidelines of an industry conference on Monday.

Mr Voser, who built the oil company into a leader in liquefied natural gas, announced his retirement earlier this month.

Shell has invested in gas projects in Australia and its Arrow LNG project is one of four gas export plants that was planned for Queensland's Curtis Island, but the project is widely expected to be abandoned in favour of selling its gas resources to rival projects.