Iraqi Kurdistan says foreign oil firms will be paid

BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - Foreign oil companies that have signed contracts with Iraq's Kurdish region will be paid, and objections by the country's Oil Ministry are irrelevant, Kurdistan's natural resources minister said on Thursday.

Ashti Hawrami said talks over who would pay Norway's DNO International (DNO.OL), Toronto-listed Addax Petroleum AXC.TO and Turkey's Genel Enerji concerned the Finance Ministry, not the Oil Ministry, which says oil deals signed independently by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) are illegal.

Earlier this month, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said his ministry would not compensate the firms "under any circumstances".

"Very simply ... Shahristani is not in charge of money. The money does not go to the Oil Ministry, it goes to the Finance Ministry. It's an academic comment, and he can make as many comments as he wishes," Hawrami told Reuters.

The firms developed Kurdistan's Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields, from which Baghdad allowed exports this month. The move was seen as a softening in Baghdad's opposition towards the deals, but how the developers would be paid was not made clear.

"I'm confident they will be paid, I can guarantee it. That's my simple answer. How we square that with the Finance Ministry and other people, that's a different matter," Hawrami added.

The Finance Ministry is unlikely to refuse to pay the firms a few hundred million dollars given the fields they developed provide billions of dollars in revenue, Hawrami said.

DNO has linked future investments in Iraq to swift payment from Baghdad, and expects its first payment at the end of June.

Baghdad prefers to pay foreign oil firms a fixed fee for developing Iraqi oil fields, in contrast with the Kurdistan Regional Government's production sharing agreements. (Reporting by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Anthony Barker)