THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Repsol, Shell , Iran Oil Co JV To Invest $4 Bln: “Oil companies Repsol YPF (REP), Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD,SC) and the National Iranian Oil Co. together plan to invest $4 billion in a natural gas project in Iran…” (ShellNews.net) 22 Nov 04

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

November 22, 2004

ZARAGOZA, Spain -- Oil companies Repsol YPF (REP), Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD,SC) and the National Iranian Oil Co. together plan to invest $4 billion in a natural gas project in Iran, Tehran's ambassador to Spain, Morteza Alviri, said Monday.

Persian LNG, as the project is known, will be a joint-venture between the Spanish-Argentine concern, Anglo-Dutch Shell and the Iranian oil company for the sale and distribution of liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

The partnership will put in place two offshore platforms that will tap gas from Iran's huge South Pars field. Persian LNG is targeting 9.4 billion cubic meters a year starting in 2010.

Alviri's remarks were made at a meeting of government and business officials from Iran and Spain.

Miguel Angel Remon, Repsol's vice president for exploration and production, said on the sidelines of the meeting that Repsol and Shell each own 50% of the Iranian upstream operation, which includes exploration and production.

The two companies also will a 25% stake each in an LNG liquefaction plant to be built as part of the project, while the National Iranian Oil Co. will hold the remaining 50%.

Of the total $4 billion investment figure, Remon said the upstream project will require $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

He added the company is planning to export the Iranian gas to Asian markets, including India, South Korea and China. He said Europe will also be a target market.

Last week, Repsol and Spain's Gas Natural SDG SA (GAS.MC) said they will invest EUR1.63 billion in Algeria after together winning a massive 30-year contract for the exploration and development of gas reserves at the integrated Gassi Touil project.

Remon said Repsol is also studying the possibility of building a natural gas liquefaction plant in Libya, but it's still at an early stage.

"We're in Algeria for sure, likely in Iran and the rest are only wishes," he said, adding that it's up to the Libyan government to decide on new projects.

Company Web site: http://www.repsolypf.com

-By Enza Tedesco, Dow Jones Newswires, +34-91-395-8120, enza.tedesco@dowjones.com