Shell, Mitsubishi to sign Iraqi gas deal

A spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said a deal with Shell and Mitsubishi for natural gas development in the south of the country would be signed next week. Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi Corp. would sign a deal Sunday for a $17 billion natural gas project near Iraq's southern ports, Bloomberg News reports. Most of Iraq's natural gas is flared because the country lacks the infrastructure to capture the gas during drilling operations. Shell pulled out of oil talks with the Kurdish government in Iraq to focus on natural gas developments near Iraq's southern port. Baghdad is upset with its Kurdish counterparts and its dealings with major international energy companies like Shell. Shell would take a 44 percent interest in a joint company formed to develop southern oil and gas fields. Baghdad would take a controlling interest while Mitsubishi would hold the remaining 5 percent stake. Iraq has the fourth-largest deposits of natural gas in the world though parts of the country still don't have around-the-clock electricity.