Iraq approved the sales of the 20% stake owned by Royal Dutch Shell in the country’s West Qurna 1 oil field to Japan’s Itochu Corporation, a senior oil official told Reuters.

The main lead contractor and operator at the West Qurna-1 field is ExxonMobil, which had agreed in 2010 to renovate the oil field along with its co-venturers Shell’s affiliate, Shell West Qurna BV, and the Oil Exploration Company of Iraq, Oil Price reported.

“Shell sold its stake in West Qurna 1 to Itochu and the oil ministry approved it. We met with Itochu and discussed the required financial investments and operations at the field,” Head of Iraq’s state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC), Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, stated.

The farm-out deal comes as Shell agreed to exit the Majnoon oil venture and hand over its operation to BOC by the end of June 2018.

Majnoon oil venture is one of the largest fields in Iraq. The West Qurna 1 oilfield is currently producing around 405,000 barrels per day (b/d).