Majnoon Island is an island in southern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

near

Al-Qurnah Al-Qurnah (Kurnah or Qurna, meaning connection/joint in Arabic) is a town in southern Iraq about 74 km northwest of Basra, that lies within the conglomeration of Nahairat. Qurna is located at the confluence point of the Tigris and Euphrates river ...

that is a center for oil production of the Majnoon Oilfield. The area was built out of sand dunes and mud to create pathways for oil pipelines. It was the site of several large battles in the Iran-Iraq war. The Majnoon Oilfield was discovered in 1975 by

Braspetro Braspetro was a Brazilian state company. It was founded in 1972 as a subsidiary of Petrobras to find and produce oil outside Brazil. (As Petrobras had a monopoly over Brazilian oil production at the time, it was forbidden by law to operate interna ...

(Petrobras of Brazil), Majnoon was found to be a part of Great Rumaila Triangle. Development work stopped in 1980 when Iraq's war with Iran broke out. Iran controlled the oilfield during the war, and it along with the other parts of Iraq, were looted and sabotaged. Before the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, roughly a sixth of Iraq's oil production, some , passed through the island. Production quickly recovered after the site was a center of fighting in the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, particularly

Operation Kheibar Operation Kheibar was an Iranian offensive in the Iran–Iraq War. It was part of the Battle of the Marshes. Prelude After the unsuccessful major offensive named Operation Dawn V aimed directly at Basra, Iran opened a front at the lakes of th ...

in 1984. However, following the imposition of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

sanctions and the 2003

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, production has presently reduced to . In December 2009, the Iraqi government awarded a license to a joint venture from

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

and

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...

to take over operations at Majnoon Oilfield, and triple production from the estimated reserve of at a fee rate of $1.39/barrel. The joint venture company is 25% held by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, 45% by Shell and 30% by Petronas. Shell exited the project in 2013. In February 1984, Iraqi mustard gas attacks on Majnoon Island killed approximately 2,500 Iranians after the Iranians captured the island.

References

Bibliography

* ''The Longest War'', by Dilip Hiro, Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991. (pg. 103) Shell plc Petronas Islands of Iraq Basra Governorate {{Iraq-geo-stub