(Adds background, Chevron confirms acquisition)

PARIS/ARBIL, Iraq, June 17 (Reuters) - Total TOTF.PA has bought an 80 percent stake in an Iraqi-Kurdish oil exploration block in a move that reinforces the French oil major's position in the autonomous region where crude reserves are plentiful.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will own the remaining 20 percent of the Baranan block, which is the fourth asset in Total's Kurdistan portfolio.

"This participation in an operated exploration block was contemplated at the time Total made its move in Kurdistan during the summer 2012," Total said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Last summer, the Total bought a 35 percent stake in the Harir and Safen exploration blocks in Kurdistan, where contract terms are seen as more attractive than the south of the country.

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The company also holds a minority interest in the Taza exploration block in the Kurdish province of Suleimaniya in northern Iraq.

In recent years, the KRG has awarded contracts on its own terms to foreign oil companies, including Exxon XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N , antagonising the Iraqi central government, which rejects the deals as illegal.

Baghdad warned Total, which has a stake in the Halfaya oilfield in southern Iraq, that it would be forced to sell it if it did not cancel or freeze its deals with Kurdistan, but the company has continued to operate in both places.

Chevron Corp CVX.N also confirmed in a statement on Monday it had acquired a stake in the Qara Dagh block. The region's energy minister Ashti Hawrami told Reuters in January Chevron had won the block, but the company did not comment until now.

Kurdistan says its right to control exploration of the reserves under its soil is enshrined in Iraq's constitution, which was drawn up following the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

(Reporting By Muriel Boselli and Isabel Coles; Editing by Sybille de La Hamaide)

((muriel.boselli@reuters.com)(+33149495270))

Keywords: TOTAL IRAQ/