Shell plans to relinquish its stake in the Majnoon oil asset (near Basrah, Iraq) in order to focus on its gas and petrochemicals projects in the country. This decision is likely to delay the field expansion and slowdown the Iraqi production. Shell remains committed to the country, but will look to increase its position in its joint venture with the Iraqi government, known as the Basrah Gas Company (BGC).
Shell is the operator of the Majnoon oil field with reserves of 1.7 Gt with a stake of 45% (Petronas 30%, the Iraqi State partner Missan Oil Company 25%). The field production started in 2013 and reached about 235 mb/d in 2017). In January 2017, Shell signed a US$210m contract with Halliburton for the field expansion and expected to increase the asset's output to 400 mb/d by 2019.
In 2016, Shell produced almost 20 mb/y of oil from Iraq, which accounted for about 3.5% of the firm’s total oil output. The sale agreement fits into Shell's $30bn worldwide divestment programme, which aims at reducing the impact of the BG Group takeover in 2016. Shell reported at the beginning of 2017 that around US$20bn of non-core assets have already been sold.