Royal Dutch Shell will hand over its operations at Iraq’s Majnoon oilfield before July 2018, Reuters reports.

It will transfer operational responsibilities for the field to the Basra Oil Company, a state-run oil company, officials told Reuters.

“We agreed that eight months is quite enough time for Shell to finish preparation to exit Majnoon. Basra Oil Company will take over operations,” an official with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Iraqi workers at the field will retain their positions despite the shift in operational management, the news agency reports.

In September, Shell announced that it was handing over its responsibilities at Majnoon to the Iraqi government due to the field’s lack of commercial viability under the terms of Shell’s agreement with Iraq, Reuters reported at the time.

Since that time, the company has been in talks with the government over the transfer.

Shell possesses a 45% stake in the oilfield. Pretronas (30%) and the Iraqi government (25%) hold the remaining interest in Majnoon.

Chevron and Total have both expressed interest in Shell’s stake in the field, the Iraqi Oil Minister,  Jabar El Luaibi, said in October, according to Reuters.

Production at the site is approximately 235,000 barrels per day (b/d) of oil, according to Reuters.