The Iraqi cabinet has approved a major oil pipeline project connecting Basrah and Haditha, the prime minister's office said Monday, according to a Reuters report. 

The project, estimated to cost 5.97 trillion Iraqi dinars ($4.56 billion), will be developed by the state-backed Basra Oil Company and Oil Projects Company and funded under the Iraq-China agreement.

The Oil Ministry proposed the pipeline in August to transport crude to Iraq’s central and southern regions, helping the country bolster its oil production, which currently averages nearly 4 million barrels per day (bpd). 

As the second-largest producer in OPEC, Iraq aims to increase its crude output to 6 million bpd by 2028, the state-owned Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported in September, citing Basim Khudair, deputy minister for extraction affairs.