A global commodities trader and carbon player, part-owned by funds giant Brookfield, is quitting a 450,000-hectare Northern Territory cattle station where it hoped to set up an offset scheme, amid confusion and delays over new carbon rules.

Hartree, an energy and commodities trader that also runs a portfolio of energy-related assets and carbon offsets, has put up for grabs the Benmara cattle station in the Barkly Tablelands region, 100 kilometres west of the Queensland border. It could fetch around $40 million.