Russia’s Gazprom Neft brought four new oil wells, with a combined output of 30,500 b/d, into production at Badra Field in Iraq, pushing the field’s total output to 3mt, Sputnik reported.

Drilling of four further wells, P-10, BD-2, P-14 and P-19, is currently ongoing, with construction expected to be complete by early 2017, according to EIN News.

The Badra oilfield, located in the Wasit Province in eastern Iraq, has reserves estimated at 3b barrels of oil. The contract for development of the field is expected to run for 20 years, with a potential for extension by a further five. The Iraqi state-owned Oil Exploration Company has a 25% stake in the development.

The Director of Major Projects at Gazprom Neft, Denis Sugaipov, said, “development of the Badra field is predicated upon our building modern oil and gas infrastructure, and upon our consistently increasing oil production. Gazprom Neft, as operator of the project, is optimizing the use of technology to cut lead times and costs in well construction, thereby ensuring optimum viability in field development.”