PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina) announced on Thursday that it had acquired a 25 percent interest in the Technical Service Contract (TSC) for the West Qurna-1 (WQ1) oil field in Iraq.

PetroChina made formal delivery for the acquisition through its wholly-owned subsidiary, according to Thursday's announcement. The stake had previously been held by a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

The WQ1 oil field is located about 50 km northwest of Basra, and is close to the north end of the Rumaila field, where PetroChina is currently operating in Iraq.

According to a statement released by PetroChina, entry into the WQ1 project will be beneficial for PetroChina to work together efficiently with other projects in Iraq and can help the company develop a larger and stronger presence in upstream operations in the Middle East, as well as drive cooperation with other international oil companies in high-end oil markets.