China National Petroleum Corp. said Monday that it has
brought online the Ahdab oil field in Iraq.
The field's annual production capacity is 3 million metric tons or around
60,000 barrels a day.
CNPC won a $3 billion contract two years ago to develop the field--the first
major oil development deal with Iraq since the fall of Saddam
Hussein in 2003.
Iraq will start exporting Ahdab crude for the first time in July, Iraqi oil
minister Abdul Kareem Luaiby said earlier this month. Ahdab is located in the
central Wasit province.
Export volumes, which will initially amount to 60,000 barrels a day, are
projected to double by the year-end.