Baghdad, Oct 16 (IANS): Iraq signed three contracts with the United Arab Emirates' Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in the eastern and southern regions of the country, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.

The Ministry said on Sunday in a statement that the deals would help Iraq produce 400 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day within 18 months in the blocks of Kilabat-Gumar and Khashim al-Hmer-Injana in the eastern province of Diyala province and Khudhr al-Maa in the southern province of Basra.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said the government was keen to increase gas investment projects to reduce gas flaring, which refers to the burning of the natural gas associated with oil extraction, and use the gas for power generation, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iraq, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has more than 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 132 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. But it still flares much of its gas wealth and relies on Iranian gas imports to feed its power plants.