Russia's Gazprom Neft announced on September 1 it had started commercial production at the Badra oil field in southeastern Iraq.
Gazprom Neft said in a statement on its website that the first oil from Badra was being loaded into a pipeline for transfer to the export terminal at Basra, on the Persian Gulf.
The Russian company said some 15,000 barrels of oil per day would be delivered through the pipeline, a level that would continue throughout this year.
Gazprom Neft is the operator of the Badra project.
The Russian company leads a consortium that includes South Korea's KOGAS, Malaysia's Petronas, Turkey's TPAO, and the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company.
Reserves at Badra are estimated to amount to some 3 billion barrels.
The consortium plans to eventually boost production to some 170,000 barrels per day.
