Shell resurrects dead gas deal

THE $2BN exploration deal carved out of the debris of the Saudi gas initiative's core-venture 3 (CV3) has breathed new life into the kingdom's attempts to develop its untapped natural gas reserves. More significantly, it has granted two non-US majors a toehold in the kingdom's upstream for the first time since the 1970s. The joint-venture agreement struck between Royal Dutch/Shell, Total and Saudi Aramco in mid-July also paves the way for other international oil companies (IOCs) to conclude deals on other assets exhumed from the three deceased CVs under new licensing rounds that have been proposed by the oil minister, Ali al-Naimi. Naimi raised the prospect of debut licensing rounds in the g