January 24, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1423

RIYADH, Jan 23: Saudi Arabia is on the verge of finalizing one of the three major gas projects with a consortium of oil majors led by the Royal Dutch Shell, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, who heads the Saudi negotiating team told newsmen here on Wednesday.

He also announced that for the time being another project, commonly termed as Core Venture 2 has been shelved.

“We have received a positive response for Core Venture 3. Ministerial negotiations have been concluded (on the project) and final (technical) negotiations will start by the end of this month,” Prince Saud confirmed.

“We expect these negotiations to reach a final agreement within two to three weeks,” he said.

Shell has a 40 per cent stake in the Core Venture 3, one of the three mega gas projects announced under the gas initiative launched by the Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal also confirmed that Riyadh has received a positive response from the Core Venture 1 consortium headed by Exxon Mobil and that also included BP Amoco and Philips Petroleum. “The response opens the way for final negotiations which will tackle various technical issues,” he added. CV1 foresees development of the South Ghawar field requiring investment of up to $15 billion.