Asim Jihad said the invitations, issued at the end of March, would close at the end of May. The South Oil Company will review the offers, he said.
Jihad said among the companies invited were Syrian, Iranian and Chinese firms.
'We want to drill 50 wells in Maysan (province) and 50 in Basra. It will take from one year to three years,' he said.
'These new wells will give us between 50,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.'
Iraq has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and needs billions of dollars to revive its oil sector which is crucial for rebuilding its shattered economy.
Iraq's oil sector has been hampered by decades of sanctions under Saddam Hussein and nearly four years of violence since the invasion in March 2003. Most of Iraq's proven oil reserves are in the Shi'ite south or the Kurdish north. In February Iraq's cabinet endorsed a draft oil law regulating how wealth from the country's vast oil reserves will be shared by its ethnic and sectarian groups.
The world's top oil companies have been manoeuvring for years to win a stake in Iraq's prized oilfields such as Bin Umar, Majnoon, Nassiriyah, West Qurna and Ratawi -- all located in the south of the country.
The oil law which is still awaiting parliament's ratification has given the regions the right to negotiate with international firms on developing oilfields.
The law will also restructure the Iraqi Oil Company (INOC) as an independent holding company and establish a Federal Council as a forum for national oil policy.
INOC will have affiliated regional operating companies and the oil ministry will be a regulatory body.
