Iraq hopes for Nassiriya decision within month - oil min

TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Iraq's hopes to reach a decision in less than a month on the huge Nassiriya oilfield, the country's oil minister said on Friday.

Leading Japanese refiner Nippon Oil Corp (5001.T), together with oil explorer Inpex Corp (1605.T) and plant engineering firm JGC Corp (1963.T), are vying with Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) for the oilfield's engineering, procurement and construction contract.

Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, in Japan to meet with government officials and companies including Nippon Oil, told reporters he hoped "it wouldn't take more than a month" to reach a decision.

"We are at the final stage of choosing the winning bid," and an annoucement will be made as soon as financial arrangements are finalised, he said.

Japanese trade minister Toshihiro Nikai, who met Shahristani on Thursday, said the Japanese government was giving full support to the participation of Japanese companies in Iraqi projects.

Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed al-Shamma last week said bids had been submitted to the Iraqi cabinet for consideration but no decision was likely until the firms responded to some questions on financing. [ID:nL1875349]

Shahristani, who was attending a seminar promoting investments by Japanese companies in Iraq, also said nothing has been decided on when Iraq plans to hold a meeting in Turkey regarding a second bidding round for oil and gas fields or when the second round will be held.

Iraq's first major competitive energy tender in decades and one of the biggest in history resulted in the sale of just one of eight fields put on the block due to a wide gap between the government and oil majors over payment terms. (Reporting by Yuko Inoue and James Topham, Writing by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Michael Urquhart)