The area was built out of sand dunes and mud to create pathways for oil pipelines.

[1] Before the Gulf War, roughly a sixth of Iraq's oil production, some 7 million barrels (1,100,000 m3), passed through the island.

Production quickly recovered after the site was a center of fighting in the Iran–Iraq War, particularly Operation Kheibar in 1984.

However, following the imposition of United Nations sanctions and the 2003 Iraq War, production has presently reduced to 46,000 barrels per day (7,300 m3/d).

In December 2009, the Iraqi government awarded a license to a joint venture from Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas to take over operations at Majnoon Oilfield, and triple production from the estimated reserve of 13 billion barrels (2.1×109 m3) at a fee rate of $1.39/barrel.