Royal Dutch Shell is slated to exit the play in southern Iraq by June 2018, paving the way for other oil majors to take its place. American Chevron and French Total had both been eager to work on Majnoon as well, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luiebi said last month. The field’s reserves are estimated at 38 billion barrels of crude oil. Reports emerged mid-September that Shell was looking to quit the field, but al-Luiebi claimed that negotiations between Baghdad and Shell over the field were ongoing and that it was not in talks with other companies. One oil official close to the matter, according to Reuters, said that BP and Eni had approached the oil ministry in October to express interest in developing Majnoon after Shell quits it. Neither European oil giant was available for immediate comment, though two other officials in Baghdad confirmed the companies’ interest. […]