Houston-based oilfield services company Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) has been awarded a letter of intent by Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V. for the development of the Majnoon field in Southern Iraq.

The giant Majnoon field is one of the world's largest oilfields. The letter of intent provides that Halliburton will serve as project manager for the development work, in affiliation with rig contractor Nabors Drilling and Iraq Drilling Co. (IDC). The contract is still subject to final approval by the appropriate Iraqi authorities.

Shell is lead operator and holds a 45% share, partner Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) holds 30%, and the Iraqi state holds 25% of the participating interests in all licenses. Shell has announced that the consortium intends to increase production from the current ~45,000 barrels of oil per day to a targeted production plateau of 1.8 million barrels of oil per day. 

Source:  Halliburton