Shelling out Iraq’s gas

An initial agreement signed with fanfare and subsequent controversy last fall between Iraq’s South Gas Co. and Royal Dutch Shell is three months away from being finalized, a key Iraqi Parliamentarian said.

Ali Belo, chairman of the Parliament’s Oil & Gas Committee, said negotiations continue between Shell and the Ministry of Oil to create a joint venture aimed, at least in part, at capturing and utilizing the massive amounts of natural gas being flared in Basra.