The US-run Iraqi administration has cancelled or suspended three oil contracts with Russian and Chinese firms signed by the ousted government of Saddam Hussein.
Thamir Ghadhban, the US-appointed de facto Iraqi oil minister, said on Saturday all pre-war contracts would be re-evaluated and new deals announced soon.
"We will examine each one on its legal, economic merits," he said.
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French, Russian and Chinese companies all won contracts in recent years for work in Iraq. Their governments opposed US war plans at the UN Security Council.
Ghadhban said that contracts would be soon awarded to international oil companies to restore oil production and nations who had opposed the war would not be discriminated against.
"We will definitely be dealing with all international oil companies in a fair and just way," Mr Ghadhban said.
BBCNews 26 May, 2003
