Iraq, Shell ink initial deal on Majnoon oilfield

BAGHDAD Dec 20 (Reuters) - A group led by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), Europe's largest oil company, signed an initial agreement on Sunday to develop Iraq's supergiant Majnoon oilfield.

Shell, along with Malaysia's state-run Petronas [PETR.UL], won the rights in an energy auction earlier this month for the supergiant field, located near the southern oil hub of Basra.

Representatives from the Shell group and the Iraqi Oil Ministry initialled the deal at the ministry in downtown Baghdad. Majnoon has reserves of 12.6 billion barrels, making it one of the world's largest untapped oilfields.

(Reporting by Muhanad Mohammed; writing by Missy Ryan; editing by John Stonestreet)