British oil major BP and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has revised terms with the Iraqi government on the development of the oil Rumaila field, reducing the project’s production target.

The consortium is now aiming for production to plateau at 2.1 million barrels a day (b/d) compared with a previous target of 2.85 million b/d when the contract was agreed in 2009.

Iraq set the target of producing an average of 12 million b/d when signing development contracts for its southern oil fields in 2009 and 2010. However, this target has since been reduced to 9 million b/d due to revised production targets and delayed projects.

In May, the Rumaila partners awarded contracts worth a combined $960.8m to UK-based Petrofac and China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) for expansion work at the field.