China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced the first shipment of oil from its investment project in North Azadegan oil field in Iran, informed Trend News Agency. According to CNPC’s website, the shipment consists of 2mb of oil that left Iran on en route to China.

The exchange marks the beginning of China’s recovery of its investmentin the field. Under the terms of the the contract, another 1m barrels will be shipped by the end of October, informed People’s Daily Online.

North Azadegan oil field is a part of Azadegan oil field located in southwestern Iran, near the Iraqi-Iranian borders. It is a key investment and cooperation project for CNPC which is considered China’s biggest oil and natural gas company in the Middle East. In October 2015, the field started trial operation, with oil being transported in April. The field has an annual production capacity of 4m tons  of crude oil. In September, CNPC, and its Iranian counterpart signed an agreement for China to receive 3m barrels of crude oil in exchange for its initial investment.