Iraq approves gas deal with Royal Dutch Shell

Iraq's Cabinet approved an initial gas agreement between the Oil Ministry and Royal Dutch Shell to invest in a joint venture to tap natural gas in southern Iraq, a government statement said.

The agreement calls for establishing a joint venture between the state-run South Oil Co. and Shell to exploit the fields, the statement added without any other details.

Shell is expected to invest US$3 billion to US$4 billion over five years to gather at least 500-600 million cubic feet of flared gas …