Shell offers GAIL 15% stake in gas field off Egypt

Royal Dutch/Shell Group has offered the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) a 15% equity stake in a medium-sized gas field off Egypt. The name of the field was not released pending GAIL's decision.

Oct. 6, 2003

2 min read

By Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ Correspondent
MUMBAI, Oct. 6 -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group has offered the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) a 15% equity stake in a medium-sized gas field off Egypt. The name of the field was not released pending GAIL's decision.

Proshanto Banerjee, GAIL's chairman and managing director, said, "We have also been offered a 19% stake in Fayum Gas Co. and a 10% stake in Shell CNG Co., both of which are city gas distribution companies in Egypt."

The financial, legal, and technical due diligence all have been completed. The valuation and other investment conditions are being reviewed, Banerjee said.

GAIL also is evaluating the feasibility of participating in NATGAS Inc., another Egyptian gas distributor (OGJ Online, Jan. 31, 2001).

Other international interests
The Indian government-owned firm also is looking at equity participation in oil and gas exploration blocks in Argentina, where Shell has offered it a 10% stake, and also in Mozambique.

Currently, GAIL's sole exploration overseas holding is a 10% stake in a Myanmar gas field (OGJ Online, Oct. 15, 2001).

"We are looking at the distribution of compressed natural gas in Manila, Cairo, Istanbul, and the Iranian city of Isfahan," Banerjee said. "We estimate that our foreign operations will account for 15% of our sales...[during] the next 10 years."