US oil major Chevron has confirmed that it has signed a new oil exploration deal with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The deal for the Qara Dagh block was announced on 17 June, and is the third signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

The KRG announced the deal in January, but it was not confirmed by Chevron at the time.

Chevron will acquire a stake and operatorship of the 860 square kilometre block’s production sharing contract, which lies southeast of Erbil.

The US firm signed two earlier production sharing deals with the KRG in July 2012, gaining 80 per cent stakes in the Rovi and Sarta blocks.