Shell announced on 26 June that it was shutting down its Majnoun oil field in Iraq for maintenance work. Majnoun output was averaging 54,000 b/d earlier in the year, but a South Oil Company official told Reuters that output was 23,000 b/d as the shutdown began. A Shell spokesman issued a statement saying: “Majnoun shutdowns are part of the normal operation of the field to maintain facilities. There are further upgrades scheduled in the second half of the year.”