Exclusive: Oil giants shower Qatar w...

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) - When Royal Dutch Shell wanted to buy a stake last year in a promising exploration block off South Africa, Total, the asset’s main shareholder, used its right to stymie the deal and acquired the share itself, only to sell it on to Qatar Petroleum.

The rapid turn of events caught some of those involved by surprise, according to company sources close to the transaction, whose details have not previously been reported.