Iraq launched the third and final phase of work to expand its southern Halfaya oil field, aiming to double its output capacity in 2018 to 400,000 barrels per day (Mbbl/d), a state-run oil company said.

Additional facilities to separate crude oil from associated natural gas will be set up as part of Halfaya's expansion, Adnan Noshi, head of Maysan Oil Co., which oversees oil fields in Maysan province, told Reuters on April 25.

Halfaya, operated by PetroChina, is Maysan Oil's largest field, producing 200 Mbbl of the company's total output of 380 Mbbl/d, Noshi said.

Expansion at Halfaya should raise Maysan's overall output to nearly 600 Mbbl/d in 2018, he said. Iraq plans to increase its oil output capacity to 5 MMbbl/d before the end of 2017.

Output stood at more than 4.7 MMbbl/d, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on April 2.

OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq produced at a rate of 4.464 MMbbl/d in March, down by more than 300 Mbbl/d from late 2016. Iraq has reduced its output alongside other oil exporters this year as part of an agreement aimed at boosting crude prices.