Oil Ministry signs contract on Majnoon with Shell, Petronas

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Oil Ministry on Sunday signed a contract with the conglomeration of the Netherlands’ Shell and Malaysia’s Petronas to develop the Majnoon oilfield as part of the second round of licenses approved by the cabinet, according to Minister Hussein al-Shahrestani. “The field, one of the largest in the Middle East region, has 11 productive spots and would offer 1.8 million barrels of oil at a rate of 1.39 dollars per barrel,” Shahrestani told IraqiNews.com news agency. The contract on service for the Majnoon had been won by a conglomeration of the Dutch Shell by 60 percent and the Malaysian Petronas by 40 percent as part of the second round of oil tenders held in Baghdad on December 11-12, 2009. “The Ministry will afford a fixed amount for the production of each barrel to be produced by the conglomeration – one dollar and 39 cents, of which 35 percent would be cut as duty,” said the minister. AmR (P)/SR 4