Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government is in talks with three companies to supply natural gas to the Nabucco pipeline, the region's oil minister said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, Ashti Awrami said "it is our right" to negotiate the use of gas from the region, adding "the revenue is for Iraq."

Nabucco, which will bypass Russia by carrying gas from the Caspian region to Europe, has faced concerns it may struggle to find the quantities needed to fill the pipeline.

The minister wouldn't disclose the companies involved, but Austria's OMV AG (OMV.VI) and Hungary's MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU) are both investors in both the KRG and the Nabucco consortium.

The KRG estimates its soil could hold 200 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves.

A final investment decision for the 3,300-kilometer pipeline is due by year end with completion expected in 2015.

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