South Korea has resumed talks with Royal Dutch/Shell on the multinational oil company's interest in state-run Korea Gas Corporation.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, Shell is interested in purchasing a 15 percent stake in KOGAS. The two sides are also discussing a possible participation of KOGAS in developing a natural gas field in Russia's Sakhalin island in which Shell is an investor.

In an interview with Reuters earlier this month, the vice minister of commerce, industry and energy said Shell had expressed the strongest interest in making an equity investment in KOGAS.

Talks with Shell and other multinationals have been stalled by a government review of plans to restructure and privatize the gas monopoly.