UPDATE 1-Iraq oil min in parliament, facing foes of deals
* Shahristani says bidding to be finished on schedule
* Committee's Kurd chairman pledges to totally reject deals
(Updates with Shahristani comment, new session)
By Waleed Ibrahim
BAGHDAD, June 23 (Reuters) - Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani defended before parliament on Tuesday plans to award next week Iraq's first major energy contracts since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Shahristani gave details about the terms of the eight oil and gas contracts due to be auctioned off on June 29-30, telling lawmakers demanding that they be approved by parliament that Iraq would make billions of dollars out of them.
The minister will return to parliament on Thursday, deputy parliament speaker Khalid al-Attiya said, giving lawmakers another opportunity to air criticism.
"We will not allow the Oil Ministry to move ahead, ignoring parliament and signing contracts in the first bidding round, since they are illegal and unconstitutional," Ali Hussain Balou, head of parliament's oil and gas committee, said earlier.
Balou, a member of a Kurdish minority that has long assailed Shahristani's management of the oil sector, pledged to "totally reject" the contracts unless they were approved by parliament. Continued...
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