Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — A Western energy major has begun exporting crude oil from a southern Iraqi field.

Royal Dutch Shell reported the export of its first shipment from Iraq’s Majnoun field under a 20-year contract. Shell said Majnoun, operated with Iraq’s state-owned South Oil, represented one of the largest oil fields in the world.

“The lifting of Shell’s first oil shipment from Majnoun has great significance to us and our partners in the [Iraqi] government as it is a testimony to our shared progress and signals the start of Majnoun’s long-term journey toward generating further revenue for Iraq’s economy, and as an investment in Iraq’s future,” Shell vice president Hans Nijkamp said on April 7.

Shell owns 45 percent of Majnoun, now producing 210,000 barrels per day
and which contains numerous mines. Executives said Shell and its partners,
including Malaysia’s Petronas, expected to increase output to 1.8 million
barrels from Majnoun, which now has 18 wells.

  Hans Nijkamp, one of world’s largest, Petronas, Royal Dutch Shell, Shell reports first oil exports from Iraq’s Majnoun field