Iraq has signed a $17 billion joint venture project with Royal Dutch Shell. The project, designed to tap natural gas in four southern oil fields, is being led by the Iraqi government, which is determined to develop an oil sector held back by years of war. The deal will give the Iraqi government a 51 percent stake in the new Basra Gas Company while Shell will hold a 44 percent share.
Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. will hold the remaining five percent stake. It is the first major step in Iraq's effort to capture the natural gas that has routinely been burned off in oil fields, thus providing raw material for generating electricity.
