Shell, for Now, Pulls Out Of Iranian Gas Project

Royal Dutch Shell PLC dropped out of a preliminary deal to join an Iranian natural-gas project, although it is looking at joining at a later stage, a company spokeswoman said.

The news comes as western oil companies have been under pressure from Iran to finalize contracts and from the U.S. not to move forward with them.

In January 2007, Netherlands-based Shell, along with Spain's Repsol YPF, signed a memorandum of understanding for the $10 billion Phase 13 contract. ...