The Iraqi government has decided to award a contract to develop theprized West Qurna oil field to a consortium led by the U.S. oil companyExxon Mobil.

The Iraqi oil ministry Thursday announced anagreement to give the companies, which include Royal Dutch Shell, a20-year contract to develop West Qurna. The field is believed to holdsome 8.5 billion barrels of untapped oil.

The Exxon-ledconsortium has proposed boosting the field's output from its currentlevel of about 280,000 barrels of oil a day up to 2.1 million.

Another consortium, led by Russia's Lukoil, had also competed for the contract.

Iraqhas the world's third largest oil reserves, and has been trying toboost production. Oil sales account for the vast majority of thegovernment's revenue.

Earlier this week, Iraq finalized a dealwith the British oil company BP and China's CNPC to develop the giantRumaila oil field.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.