Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has started work on a 272km oil pipeline from Iraq.
Production from the Halfaya field, which holds an estimated 16billion barrels of oil, is expected to start in April 2014.
Halfaya currently produces 106,000 barrels of oil per day but CNPC is hoping to increase that number to 535,000 bopd within six years.
The project is a joint venture between CNPC and the Buzurgan oil field operator, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), which will also fuel the new pipeline.