Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia’s Petronas have won the rights to develop one of the world’s largest remaining untapped oilfields as Iraq staged the second auction of oil contracts since 2003.
The companies proposed a per-barrel-fee of just $1.39 and pledged to increase output from the super-giant Majnoon field to 1.8 million barrels per day, more than double what was expected, reports Reuters.
“We announce that the consortium of Shell and Petronas have won [the contract] to develop Majnoon, and the fee is less than the Oil Ministry specified,” Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said.
French major Total partnered with China’s CNPC to bid for the field.
Iraq is offering ten oilfields over two days, with the potential to make Iraq oil output rival that of top oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.
