The Iraqi Oil Ministry has begun preparations for a new bidding round to award the massive Nassiriya oil field, a senior Iraqi oil official said Wednesday.

All international companies pre-qualified by the ministry, which number about 47, will be invited to take part in the auction planned to take place this year, Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, head of the ministry's petroleum contracts and licensing directorate, told Dow Jones Newswires.

He gave no exact day for the auction.

Mr. Ameedi said that the contract would come in a package that would include constructing a refinery. The contract will have more favorable terms than the previous service contracts that Iraq signed with international oil companies, Mr. Ameedi said without giving further details.

A consortium of three Japanese companies comprising JX Holding Inc. (5020.TO), Inpex Corp. (1605.TO) and JGC Corp. (1963.TO) had negotiated the Nassiriya oil field for three years. But negotiations were called off the last minute in 2009 for reasons of financing.

Nassiriya's proven crude reserves of more than 4.4 billion barrels continue to make it an attractive area of investment.

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