Majnoon Island is an island in southern Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 near Al-Qurnah

Al-Qurnah

Al-Qurnah is a small village in southern Iraq about 74 km northwest of Basra, within the town of Nahairat. Qurna is located at the point where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers join to form the Shatt al-Arab....

 that is a center for oil production of the Majnoon Oilfield

Majnoon Field

Majnoon Oil field is a super-giant oil field located from Basra, Basra Governorate in southern Iraq. Majnoon is one of the richest oil fields in the world with an estimated 23-25 billion and proven reserves of 12.6 billion of barrels of oil in place...

. The area was built out of sand dunes and mud to create pathways for oil pipelines.

Before the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, roughly a sixth of Iraq's oil reserves, some 7 Moilbbl, passed through this island. Production quickly recovered after the site was a center of fighting in the Iran-Iraq War

Iran-Iraq War

The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...

, particularly Operation Kheibar

Operation Kheibar

Operation Kheibar was an Iranian offensive in the Iran-Iraq War. This operation was part of the Battle of the Marshes.-Prelude:After the unsuccessful Operation Dawn V in southern Iraq, Iran opened a new front at the lakes of the Hawizeh Marshes. 250,000 Iranian men swept through the Iraqi desert...

 in 1984. However, post the imposition of United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 sanctions and the 2003 Iraq War, production has presently reduced to 46000 oilbbl/d.

In December 2009, the Iraqi government awarded a license to a joint venture from Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

 and Petronas

Petronas

PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...

 to take over operations at Majnoon Oilfield

Majnoon Field

Majnoon Oil field is a super-giant oil field located from Basra, Basra Governorate in southern Iraq. Majnoon is one of the richest oil fields in the world with an estimated 23-25 billion and proven reserves of 12.6 billion of barrels of oil in place...

, and triple production from the estimated reserve of 13 Goilbbl at a fee rate of $1.39/barrel. The joint venture company is 25% held by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil

Ministry of Oil (Iraq)

The Ministry of Oil is the Iraqi government agency responsible for Iraqi petroleum. The Minister of Oil since December 21, 2010 is Abdul Karim al-Luaibi.-External links:* by Michael T. Klare, The Huffington Post, July 14 2009...

, 45% by Shell and 30% by Petronas.