HispanicBusiness

Consortium headed by French company Total which also includes Chinese Petro Chine and Malaysian Petronas, began oil production on Iraq's major oil field of Al-Halfaya in the south-east of the country, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Thursday.

'It is expected that the first stage of oil production on the field will hit 70,000 barrels per day. In the future it will be increased to 535,000 barrels of oil per day', the report says.

According to BP, Iraq's proven oil reserves amounted to 143.1 billion barrels as of late 2011.

The country ranks third in OPEC after Saudi Arabia and Iran. According to BP, oil production in Iraq amounted to 2.798 million barrels per day in late 2011.

The major oil fields of Iraq are Rumaila, Zubair, Nahr Umr, Majnoon and West Qurna in the south of the country. About 80 percent of oil extracted in Iraq, is exported.