Iraq's Majnoon oilfield to hit 175,000 boed in 2012

Iraq's Majnoon oilfield is expected to produce 175,000 barrels of oil a day in 2012, a senior Royal Dutch Shell executive said today.

Iraq's largest field is currently pumping at 45,000 barrels a day, Shell's Mounir Bouaziz, Vice-President New Business LNG for the Middle East and North Africa, told an industry event.

Shell and Malaysia's Petronas signed a final contract to develop Iraq's Majnoon oilfield, one of the world's biggest, earlier this year.

Shell and Petronas won the rights in an auction held in Baghdad in December for the feld in southern Iraq, estimated to hold 12.6 billion barrels of oil.

The 20-year development contract is one of several deals that Iraq has sealed to try and catapult to third place from 11th in the league of oil producing nations.

Bouaziz said the construction of Shell's Pearl gas-to-liquids project in Qatar is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, with a ramp up in production expected in 2011.

"This will take 12 months," he said.