Gulf News reported that Royal Dutch Shell plans to raise oil production from Iraq's supergiant Majnoon oilfield to 175,000 barrels per day by the end of 2012.

A company executive said that Shell, which partnered Malaysia's state run Petronas to develop Majnoon, this year, has raised production from the field to 65,000 barrels per day from 40,000 barrels per day.

The Anglo Dutch major also signed last week in Basra in southern Iraq a deal with Halliburton of the US and the state run Iraqi Drilling Company a contract to drill 15 wells in the 12.8 billion barrel field. Drilling is expected to start in March next year.

(Sourced from Gulf News)