Shell close to mega-deal with Qatar
OIL GIANT Shell came close to clinching a big deal to export frozen gas from Qatar as a massive block of its shares changed hands.
Reports from the Arabian Gulf say Shell will shortly agree with Qatar Petroleum to export £4bn of liquefied natural gas to the US. A deal would help Shell to replace some of its depleted oil and gas reserves.
In London, someone paid £343m for 70m Shell shares at 490.63p - a deal that dominated trading. Shell would not comment.
It is one of the few companies that is big enough to shrug off such a major deal.
Traders think big funds have been buying shares in London-quoted Shell and selling Amsterdam-quoted Royal Dutch before they are streamlined into one company. This will be 8% of the FTSE 100 so index-tracking funds need to increase their holdings.
The Qatar deal is one of the projects that will hopefully transform Shell's prospects - but not until 2009 to 2010.
