Iran is set to begin production on an oil field shared with Oman in the Persian Gulf’s Straits of Hormuz.

State television on Tuesday quoted Mahmoud Zirakchian, head of Iran’s offshore oil company, as saying production officially begins on the Hengam oil field Tuesday.

Preparatory work on the joint field began in May and it is now producing some 7,000 barrels of crude per day, he added.

Zirakchian said the joint field is near the Iranian Island of Hengam and 80 percent of it belongs to Iran.

He said Iranian experts developed the field in 18 months.

The field has estimated reserves of 600 million barrels of light crude oil.

Iran, with production of some 4.2 million barrels of oil, is the second largest oil producer in OPEC.