RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told the local Donia al-Watan website March 7 that the consensus government is discussing with developing companies the extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip. However, the prospects for this remain hindered by security and political obstacles. On Feb. 21, the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF) announced that there are ongoing Palestinian talks with the Anglo-Dutch Shell company to develop the Gaza Marine gas field off the coast of Gaza.

Mohammed Mustafa, the head of the PIF, told Al-Monitor that the talks with Shell are about the development of the Gaza Marine gas field, with Shell having the largest share of the field development rights (55%). The Palestinian side is urging the company to accelerate its efforts to develop the field as soon as possible given the benefits that this would bring to the national economy.

While the PIF has 17.5% of the field development rights, Consolidated Contractors Company owns 27.5% of these rights and Shell 55%, Mustafa said.

The development and gas extraction rights differ from the ownership and revenue rights, which belong to the Palestinians alone. Shell only has 55% of the rights to develop the gas field as per an agreement signed by the government with British Gas (BG) in 1999. The abovementioned companies were also part of the agreement that stipulates that BG would have the exclusive rights to prospect, explore and develop any oil and gas sources found across Palestine. However, in 2015, the Palestinian government resumed negotiations on the agreement with BG and abrogated the exclusive rights it had given to the company. It also raised the PIF share from 10% under the old agreement to 17.5%. Subsequently, Shell acquired BG on April 8, 2016.