* New development structure for field after Shell pulls out
* Political tensions have delayed offshore project
* Palestinians hope to become energy exporter
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA, April 4 (Reuters) - The Palestinians are seeking tosell a 45 percent stake in a gas field off Gaza to help todevelop the project, its main stakeholder, the PalestineInvestment Fund, said on Wednesday after Royal Dutch Shellannounced it had pulled out.
Gaza Marine, about 30 km (20 miles) off the Gaza coast, haslong been seen as an opportunity for the cash-strappedPalestinian Authority to join the Mediterranean gas bonanza,providing a major source of income to reduce its reliance onforeign aid.
But Palestinian political disputes and conflict with Israel,as well as economic factors, have delayed plans to develop thefield, and Shell had struggled to find a buyer for its 55percent stake in the field, which it took over as part of itsacquisition of BG Group in 2016.
Shell said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with thePalestine Investment Fund (PIF) to divest its interest in GazaMarine.
The PIF, a sovereign wealth fund, said that under a newstructure agreed with the Palestinian Authority, the PIF and itsinvestment partner, CC Oil and Gas Ltd, would each hold 27.5percent of development rights, and a future foreign operatorwould have 45 percent.
The PIF said the new structure would give momentum to "oneof Palestine’s most vital, strategic assets", fuel power plantsin Gaza and the city of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bankand enable the Palestinians to become an energy exporter.
Gaza Marine is estimated to hold over 1 trillion cubic feetof natural gas, the equivalent of Spain’s consumption in 2016.But plans to develop it were put off several times over the pastdecade.
Discovered at the end of the century, it lies between tworapidly expanding gas hubs in Egypt and Israel, both of whichhave attracted huge investments in recent years.
Attempts to develop the field were put on hold repeatedlyafter Hamas, which Western countries and Israel have designatedas a terrorist group, took control over the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Israel then put an economic blockade on Gaza, raisingquestions about the financing of the project and the sharing offuture profits among the Palestinians.
Israel has, however, said in the past it supports thefield’s development.
(Additional reporting by Ron BoussoWriting by Jeffrey Heller. Editing by Jane Merriman)
