Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will visit London on November 9 to discuss the Middle East peace process with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and sign a gas exploration deal with BG, the British Gas company.

A Reuters report quoted a female Palestinian official as saying that Arafat would sign a deal to explore for natural gas in Mediterranean waters off the Gaza Strip.

The report said the agreement will pave the way for a 20 million US dollars initial investment.

Arafat's visit to London follows a pipe bomb attack which wounded 14 people in Israel on Sunday.

The intensive negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on a final peace agreement to end the century-old conflict in the Middle-east went ahead on Monday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.