Nearly two years after awarding development and exploration deals in a bidding round to foreign oil companies , Iraq’s Cabinet on Thursday authorized the Oil Ministry to sign all six contracts, which one senior Iraqi official said could happen as soon as next week. The projects are slated to provide significant new natural gas production for Iraq, potentially reducing its reliance on Iranian gas, and likely giving a boost to Iraqi and American advocates for renewing a waiver related to Iranian sanctions that expires Feb. 13 .