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By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, March 5 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell isgiving up its stake in an undeveloped natural gas field off theGaza Strip, sending the Palestinians looking for a new foreigngroup to replace it, Palestinian officials said on Monday.

Cabinet ministers from the Palestinian Authority said in astatement they had been informed that the energy giant waspulling out of the project and were now in the process of"trying to attract a global company" to take its place.

Shell had been struggling to find a buyer for its 55 percentstake in the Gaza Marine field, which it took over during itsacquisition of BG Group in 2016.

A Shell spokesman said: “We confirm we have been indiscussions with various parties about the future of the GazaMarine project. As of now, Shell continues to holds its equityin the Gaza Marine asset.”

Gaza Marine, located about 30 km (20 miles) off the Gazacoast, has long been seen as a golden opportunity for thecash-strapped Palestinian Authority to join the Mediterraneangas bonanza, providing a major source of income to reduce itsreliance on foreign aid.

Plans to develop the field - estimated to hold over 1trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the equivalent of Spain’sconsumption in 2016 - were put off several times over the pastdecade.

The delays were due to internal Palestinian rivalry andconflict with Israel, as well as economic reasons.

With Shell's exit, the Palestine Investment Fund, asovereign wealth fund, remains the sole stakeholder.

A Palestinian official familiar with the matter, who spokeon condition of anonymity, told Reuters that once a potentialbuyer is located they will discuss options of how much controlof the project could be acquired.(Additional reporting by Ali SawaftaWriting by Nidal Almughrabi; Editing by Adrian Croft)