UPDATE 3-Russia, Iraq aim to revive pre-war energy deals

* Agreement announced after meeting of prime ministers

* Russian energy minister calls it "a very big move"

* LUKOIL has lobbied for Saddam-era contracts to stand

(Adds power plant deal)

By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, April 10 (Reuters) - Russia and Iraq have agreed to work on restoring oil contracts that they signed before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Russia's energy minister said after the two countries' prime ministers met on Friday.

A Russian consortium including oil group LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) signed a $3.7 billion deal to develop Iraq's West Qurna oil field in 1996, when Saddam Hussein was in power.

"The goal has been set to restore the contracts concluded between Russian and Iraqi companies before the war," Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said, adding that a working group on the issue would convene in the near future.

"I believe that this is a very big move," he told reporters after the meeting between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Iraq's Nuri al-Maliki in Moscow, at which Putin accepted an invitation to visit Iraq.