Iraq has launched three energy contracts with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq, the oil ministry said on Sunday.

United Arab Emirates-based Crescent Petroleum signed in February three 20-year contracts to develop oil and natural gas fields in Iraq's Basra and Diyala provinces in northeastern Baghdad.

The Crescent Petroleum contracts are expected to begin producing 400 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas within 18 months, the oil ministry statement quoted Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani as saying.

Abdel-Ghani, who attended the launch at the oil ministry headquarters in Baghdad, said starting operations by Crescent Petroleum will help Iraq to stop gas flaring and use the processed gas to generate electricity.

The OPEC producer relies heavily on Iranian gas imports to feed its power grid. But the United States has pushed Iraq to reduce its reliance on Iranian gas.

Iraq continues to flare some of the gas extracted alongside crude oil because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel for local consumption or exports.