LONDON, May 11, (RTRS): Gas-rich Qatar is ploughing more of its commodity wealth back into the 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 3-5 percent stake.
If Qatar did buy 5 percent, it would be just ahead of Blackrock, which is currently Shell’s biggest investor with 4.97 percent, according to Reuters data.
But British stock market rules require any party to disclose a holding of over 3 percent 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.
“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.

Shell’s London-listed “A” shares rose 1.1 percent to trade at 20.74 euros by 1526 GMT, against a 0.4 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index.
Eni, whose shares traded up 1.9 percent 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 percent 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 Emir of Qatar in Rome in April. Monti told reporters 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 percent 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 told reporters.

Also:
LONDON: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund plans to increase its stake in Xstrata Plc to at least 10 percent, the Financial Times said on Thursday.
Qatar is expected to continue building its stake, currently at 8.5 percent, to 10 percent and could go higher, people familiar with the matter are quoted as saying.
The Gulf state is the second largest investor in Xstrata behind commodities trader Glencore International Plc, which has agreed a $37 billion takeover of the miner, due for completion in the third quarter of 2012.
“It is all about getting a meaningful stake in Glencore,” one person is quoted as saying in the article published on the FT’s website.
The share increase could make it potentially easier for Qatar to mount a blocking vote against shareholders opposed to the merger, the FT said.