Iraq is mulling a third oil auction for some of its supergiant fields, such as Kirkuk and East Baghdad, if there is enough interest from foreign oil firms, Iraq’s oil minister said on Thursday.

Iraq signed a series of deals with international oil companies after two bidding rounds last year to develop some of its largest oilfields, in a bid to boost its crude output capacity to near Saudi Arabian levels of 12 million barrels per day from 2.5 million bpd now.

Oil Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani told Reuters that Iraq could hold a third bidding round for more of its oilfields that were auctioned before but were not awarded if there are at least three companies interested in developing them.

Shahristani said that a final deal for a gas joint-venture with Royal Dutch Shell will be sent to cabinet for approval "today or (the) start of next week" after it has been approved by the cabinet’s energy committee.