Majnoon Island

Majnoon Island is an island in southern Iraq near Al-Qurnah that is a center for oil production of the Majnoon Oilfield. The area was built out of sand dunes and mud to create pathways for oil pipelines.

Before the Gulf War, roughly a sixth of Iraq's oil reserves, some 7 million barrels (1,100,000 m³), passed through this island. Production quickly recovered after the site was a center of fighting in the Iran-Iraq War, particularly Operation Kheibar in 1984. However, post the imposition of United Nations sanctions and the 2003 Iraq War, production has presently reduced to 46,000 barrels per day (7,300 m³/d).

In December 2009, the Iraqi government awarded a license to a joint venture from Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas to take over operations at Majnoon Oilfield, and triple production from the estimated reserve of 13 billion barrels (2.1×10⁹ m³) at a fee rate of $1.39/barrel.^[1] The joint venture company is 25% held by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, 45% by Shell and 30% by Petronas.^[2]

References

The Longest War, by Dilip Hiro, Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991. (pg. 103)

1. ^ "Iraq oil development rights contracts awarded". BBC News. 2009-12-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8407274.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-11. 
2. ^ "Royal Dutch Shell plc welcomes Iraq Majnoon contract award". Royal Dutch Shell. 2009-12-11. http://www.shell.com/home/content/media/news_and_library/press_releases/2009/iraq_majnoon_contract_11122009.html. Retrieved 2009-12-11. ^{[dead link]}