At least one person is dead, nine injured and three missing after a fire broke out at the Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq.

“A big fire erupted in the central crude processor facility in Rumaila south and fire fighters were called immediately to the site,” says a source at state-owned South Oil Company (SOC), Reuters news agency reports.

“This could affect production from the field,” says the source. 

The field is being developed by UK oil major, BP along with China National Petroleum Corporation. BP says the fire occurred at a gas compression unit belonging to SOC.

Production at the 17 billion barrel Rumaila field fluctuated widely in early 2011 due to pressure problems, according to analysts. The partners plan to increase production at the field to 2.85 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2017 from just over 1.1 million b/d today.