Anglo-Dutch oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced that Iraq’s Majnoon oilfield will start up production next month at a rate of 175,000 bpd
Majnoon is one of four giant southern fields vital to Iraq’s plan to double output that is now around three million bpd, the company said.
Federal Oil Ministry said that it had sent a letter to Shell last month for missing start-up dates at this 12bn barrel oilfield, which was pumping about 45,000 bpd when the company took over in 2010.
It added that the delays had resulted in a production lag, costing the country US$4.6bn.
Asim Jihad, spokesperson for Shell, said, “We have started testing the oilfield installations in preparation for opening the wells and pumping to a capacity of more than 175,000 bpd, which will start next month.
“This is the preliminary production until we reach the higher production target in future, which is more than one million bpd.”
Meanwhile, the Oil Ministry announced said that Garraf oilfield, developed by Malaysia’s Petronas and Japan Petroleum Exploration Company Limited (Japex) started production of 35,000 bpd last week.
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