Delays in the construction of a new pipeline for Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA, RDSB) Majnoon oilfield in Iraq are threatening to stall production at the field for at least three months, which would lead to it missing its 2012 target of 175,000 barrels per day, Reuters news agency reported Sunday on its website, citing oil ministry documents.

"A key concern...remains the uncertain delivery of the First Commercial Production pipeline," Reuters cited the official letter sent by Shell's managing director of Majnoon as saying.

Shell has requested Iraq 's South Oil Company to review its proposal to start retrieving costs by the end of the year in case Iraq fails to provide an export route to handle Majnoon's output, the report cited the document as saying.

An unnamed senior Iraqi oil ministry official acknowledged pipeline progress was slow, though he said Shell was also behind on development at Majnoon to boost output, the report said. Requests for comment from Shell weren't answered, the report added.

Διαβάστε ακόμα