MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Russian oil company Lukoil said Tuesday a tanker loaded with crude oil taken from the West Qurna project in Iraq has left the southern port city of Basra.
Lukoil said Sea Triumph, a tanker chartered by its international marketing subsidiary, left port with 1 million barrels of oil.
Lukoil said it's the first batch of oil from its operations in the West Qurna-2 project in Iraq.
"The vessel is bound for Augusta, Sicily," the company said in a statement. "Upon unloading, the oil will be transported for refining to Lukoil's refinery in Priolo [Italy]."
First oil was produced from West Qurna-2, located in southern Iraq, in March. Lukoil, Russia's largest private oil company, signed a contract revision in June to build two 75-mile pipelines and associated infrastructure.
The system links the oil field to an export terminal in Basra, situated along the coast of the Persian Gulf.
The shipment comes as Iraq is struggling to control an uptick in violence, though most of that is centered in the northwest and Kurdish parts of the country.
Lukoil said the West Qurna field in the south of the country is producing more than 280,000 barrels of oil per day.
"The project is being implemented on schedule as Lukoil fully meets its production targets and contractual obligations," it said.
