China National Petroleum Corp said Tuesday that its subsidiary in Iraq produced 2.603 million mt (615,483 b/d) of crude oil in January, which was 122.6% of its output target, according to a company newsletter.

In addition, crude oil output from the Rumaila field also reached its highest level in 30 years, a report published Tuesday in the China Petroleum Daily said.

The company however, did not elaborate on overall Rumaila production and comparative figures for its total output from Iraq.

State-run CNPC holds a 20-year technical service contract together with BP for further development of the Rumaila oil field.

Under the terms of the contract, the foreign companies can opt for payment in kind.

Rumaila registered the highest production rate for the year in January 2011 when output hit 1.217 million b/d. But for the following 11 months the average rate was around 1.08 million b/d, which is only 14,000 b/d above the startup contractual baseline production rate of 1.066 million b/d. The Chinese oil major is also developing the al-Ahdab oil field under a separate 20-year service contract, and the Halfaya oil field together with Malaysia's Petronas, France's Total and the Iraqi state-owned South Oil Company.

CNPC loaded its first shipment of crude oil from the al-Ahdab oil field in late December. The field came on stream at a test rate of 35,000 b/d last year, and was expected to produce 120,000 b/d by the end of 2011, according to earlier estimates.

CNPC as operator holds a 75% stake in the Ahdab development project. The remaining 25% is held by Iraq's North Oil Company, the state partner in the project.

Output from Halfaya, in southern Missan province, is estimated at around 10,000 b/d and is expected to reach 70,000 b/d by the end of June.