MOSCOW, March 5 (UPI) -- Russian oil company Gazprom Neft said Wednesday it connected two oil fields in eastern Iraq to the country's central pipeline network.
The company said it completed laying, testing and connecting a 100-mile oil pipeline from the Badra oil field in Wasit province to the Gharraf oil field in neighboring Nassariya province.
"With infrastructure already in place at Gharraf, completion of the pipeline from Badra means that the field is now connected to the main Iraqi pipeline system," the company said in a statement.
Gazprom Neft said the new system can support about 204,000 barrels of oil per day for an export terminal at the southern port city of Basra.
Gazprom Neft serves as the operator at Badra in a consortium that includes Korean and Brazilian counterparts.
The company is operating under the terms of a 2009 agreement with the Iraqi government to develop the Badra field for the next 20 years.
The oil arm of Russian energy company Gazprom, the company postponed Badra developments in November because of security concerns in Iraq.
