Qatar announced a preliminary agreement with Bahrain to supply it with Natural Gas from the North Field, beginning in 2008. Negotiations on pricing and volumes continue, and no binding contract has yet been concluded. Kuwait also has held discussions with Qatar about the purchase of Qatari gas. A preliminary agreement was signed for gas sales in July 2000, which would source the gas from ExxonMobils North Field holdings. Details of the project and volumes are still being discussed, and a final agreement has not been reached. Qatar also has held discussions with Bahrain on the possible supply of North Field natural gas, which could be accomplished with a spur from the proposed North Field-Kuwait Pipeline. The pipeline would have to be built through Saudi Arabias territorial waters, and political tension between the Saudi and Qatari governments reportedly have inhibited progress on the project. As an alternative, Kuwait may consider importing LNG sourced from Qatar . With such vast reserves of natural gas, Qatar has also been interested in potential development of Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) projects. Shell signed an agreement with Qatar Petroleum in October 2003 for a 140,000-bbl/d GTL facility, the Pearl project, to be built at Ras Laffan. It now appears, though, that the project will likely be delayed by as much as three years. Qatari officials have been sounding a note of caution about further development of the North Field in the near-term, to ensure that reserves are sufficient to last 100 years, and due to shortages of skilled labor and port facilities brought about by the several massive energy development projects already underway.