World Economy

摘要

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to a gas joint venture with Iraq worth up to $4 billion, the Iraqi oil ministry and the Financial Times said.. The deal which will see the gas extracted from Iraqi fields being both sold in Iraq and abroad will be signed next month, ministry spokesperson Assem Jihad said. Shell will become the first Western oil group to sign a deal with Baghdad since the US-led invasion of 2003, with a venture the Financial Times estimated to be worth about $4 billion (2.8 billion euros). Iraq's cabinet has agreed to the contract, which gives the state-woned Southern Oil Company 51% and Shell 49% in the venture. Our JV partnership is for the long term, because the investment to extract is a long process, Jihad said.