Seven Iraqi oil and gas fields are to be offered up for development by foreign companies, the country's oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani has announced.

With the contracts set to be awarded either later this year or at the start of 2009, the minister confirmed that the fields to be opened up to tender include Rumaila, Zirkuk, Zubair, West Qurna Phase 1, Bai Hassan and the three sites making up the Maysan fields, namely Bazargan, Abu Gharab and Fakka.

Additionally, the gas fields of Akkas and Mansuriyah will also be opened up to foreign firms for long-term development, the first time in almost 40 years that such contacts have been made available in the oil sector of an OPEC member.

At the same time, a number of international oil companies, including BP, Shell, Total and ExxonMobil are set to sign draft agreements with the Iraqi government with regards to providing set services over the short-term future, including assisting with technology, equipment and training of the local workforce.

Though the details of these agreements have yet to be released, the Kurdistan Regional Government has already expressed its dissatisfaction with the initiative, despite having only just signed several deals with multinational oil companies itself.