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Qatar wealth fund buys major stake in Shell

London, May 12, 2012

Qatar is ploughing more of its commodity wealth back into the gas sector with the purchase of a major stake in Royal Dutch Shell while also reportedly eyeing a chunk of Italian oil major Eni.

A Shell spokeswoman confirmed the purchase while declining to detail its size but the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reported earlier that Qatar's sovereign wealth fund (QIA) was looking at a three-five per cent stake.

If Qatar did buy 5 per cent, it would be just ahead of Blackrock, which is currently Shell's biggest investor with 4.97 per cent, according to Reuters data.

But British stock market rules require any party to disclose a holding of over 3 per cent in a listed company so the absence of a statement from Qatar suggests its interest is below this level.

The Gulf nation's massive gas supplies have made it rich, allowing it to create a sovereign wealth fund that has been buying up assets, including stakes in listed companies, around the world, said a report in our sister puiblication the Gulf Daily News.

'We are delighted to welcome the Qatar Investment Authority as a long-term and major shareholder in Shell, and particularly given our excellent strategic relationship with the Qatari state,' the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Shell operates multi-billion dollar natural gas projects in Qatar.

Eni, whose shares traded up 1.9 per cent at 16.89 euros, had no comment on the Mees report that Qatar was negotiating a stake in it.

Two analysts said the Qatar fund might be interested in buying the ENI stake of around 3.4 per cent that state-controlled finance company CDP could sell to help fund its acquisition of a stake in transmission operator Snam from Eni.

Prime Minister Mario Monti had a meeting with the Amir of Qatar in Rome in April. Monti said at the end of that meeting that Qatari institutions had shown interest in long-term investments in Italy.

In Italy investors must inform the market regulator Consob when they buy stakes of more than 2 per cent in a listed company.

A senior executive of the Qatari fund said in April that the financial crisis had restricted investment in commodities and that he expected a supply-demand gap to emerge by 2016 or 2017.

'We like commodities, we like to invest in commodities. Since 2002, the commodity price trend keeps going up,' Qatar Investment Authority executive board member Hussain Al Abdulla said.

Qatar Holding, a unit of QIA, said last month that it had increased its stake in French oil group Total to 3 per cent and is undecided on buying more shares.

Qatar signed a deal in April to co-invest $250 million with Barclays' natural resources private equity investment unit.

QIA has been the most active of the region's sovereign wealth funds in recent years, deploying profit from its natural gas riches into assets ranging from German sports car maker Porsche to British bank Barclays.

The fund has also been slowly buying into London-listed miner Xstrata recently. Its current holding in Xstrata, which is planning to merge with commodities trader Glencore, is about 7.2 per cent.

Yesterday, the Financial Times reported Qatar's sovereign wealth fund planned to increase its Xstrata stake to at least 10 per cent as part of a long-held strategy to invest in Glencore, suggesting the Gulf state could provide crucial support to the pair's $90 billion merger deal. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Qatar | Shell | London | Eni | Stake | wealth fund |

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