Shell May Move Team of Foreign Workers to Iraq, Times Reports

By Andrew MacAskill

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc may become the first major Western company to move a large team of foreign workers to Iraq, the London-based Times reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

Shell is considering moving up to 200 workers to Basra after signing a preliminary deal worth $4 billion to process natural gas in the country, the newspaper said. The company is speaking to security firms, suppliers and logistic companies for advice on how to support foreign staff, the Times said.

A spokesman for Shell said there are no immediate plans to send staff to Iraq because the contracts haven't yet been completed, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew MacAskill in London at amacaskill@bloomberg.net