Japan firms set for final Iraq oil deal talks-paper

TOKYO, Nov 18 - A group of Japanese companies led by refiner Nippon Oil Corp <5001.T> could enter final negotiations for a deal to develop Iraq's huge Nassiriya oil field as early as Sunday, a Japanese newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Nippon Oil and its partners oil explorer Inpex Corp <1605.T> and plant engineering firm JGC Corp <1963.T> are close to signing an engineering, procurement and construction deal valued at $10 billion for Nassiriya, which has 5 billion barrels in reserves. [ID:nL2536702]

A Nippon Oil spokesman declined to comment on the report in the Yomiuri newspaper, saying only that negotiations were still ongoing.

A delegation from Nippon Oil traveled to Baghdad earlier this month but refused to leave the airport and go to the oil ministry to finalise a deal, Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani said last week. [ID:nLA735806]