Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) has started commercial crude production in Iraq's Badra oilfield as planned, the state-run South Korean company said in a statement on Monday.

Operations at the Badra field have been largely unaffected by the conflict in Iraq as it is in an area under the central government's control, a Kogas executive has said.

The project's current output is 15,000 barrels per day (bpd), and the world's largest corporate buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) aims to produce 170,000 bpd within three years, according to the statement and another Kogas official.

Kogas holds 22.5-per cent of the project, with Russia's Gazprom Neft, Malaysia's Petronas Caigali and Turkey's TPAO also taking stakes. – Reuters