Kurdish Iraqis find new oil fields

BAGHDAD, May 14 (UPI) -- Kurdish excavators in Iraq discovered three fields holding an estimated 2 billion barrels of oil, the region's oil minister announced Wednesday.

But Oil Minister Ashti Horami is in a position of having to defend deals he has already signed with several foreign companies, Azzaman.com reported.

Horami said deals with Norwegian DNA ASA, Turkish companies PetOil and Gnel, and Australia's Woodside Petroleum and Heritage Oil were set to channel 90 percent of the region's oil revenues to the Kurdish regional government, the report said.

The Oil Ministry has purposefully subdivided large reserves to increase profits and woo smaller oil companies to the region.

But the Oil Ministry in Baghdad considers the contracts illegal, Azzaman.com reported.

In spite of this, Horami has so far signed contracts with 20 firms from Turkey, Britain, the United States, Canada, South Korea and India, the report said.