In July 1977, the Iraqi government took over the management of the operations of Alf Iraq Company and merged the activities of the Maysan oil fields with those of the General Organization for Southern Oil in Basra Governorate, creating the Maysan Oil Fields Department. Two years later, the department became a General Directorate, a status that remained in place until 1987. After that, the department was subject to administrative downsizing and streamlining decisions adopted by the government at the time, under the pressure of war and the cessation of production from the Maysan oil fields, as these fields had become an arena for military operations. The department's structure was reduced to the level of a division affiliated with the Operations Authority of the General Organization for Southern Oil. Between 1997 and 2008, it operated as an affiliate of the Southern Oil Company.

- Oil and gas production from oil and gas fields within the company's geographic area.
- Isolating and compressing associated gas and dome gases and transporting them to the North Gas Complex to produce liquid gas and dry gas for use as fuel for industrial purposes.
- Processing oil in concentration complexes and transporting it to refineries and export terminals.
- Providing drilling and well repair supplies in contracts with the Iraqi Drilling Company and foreign contractors, and implementing all supporting operations.
- Geological and reservoir control and studies, and field measurements.
- Research and quality control of crude oil, gas, and products.
- Implementing routine and scheduled maintenance work for the oil facility.

In early stages, an experiment of marketing a small shipment of Iraqi crude oil received by Iraq's government which was produced by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) working in Iraq at that time, was the spark that led to the initiation of oil marketing in Iraq. The contract was concluded on  swap basis for medicines with a Greek company, since it was not possible to sell the shipment at the announced Official Selling Price (OSP) that was paid to the Iraqi government by the(IOCs) when the latter was conducting marketing of Iraqi crude oil back then.
Thereafter, a Marketing Department was established within the Economic Division of the National Oil Company (NOC) to assume responsibility for contracting and issuance of documents from Tripoli Port in Lebanon, aiming to provide training for the Iraqi staff in preparation for marketing direct investment oil on April 1972 from Al-FAO sea port that was rehabilitated for that purpose.