India ONGC registers for Iraq oil tenders - source

NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) has been registered with Iraqi authorities for tenders to develop the world's third-largest oil reserves, a senior company official said on Monday.

"We have a presence in Iraq and it makes sense to register for the Iraq assets," a senior official at ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of ONGC, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters.

He, however, clarified that the firm had submitted a solo bid and not in partnership with Mittal Investments Sari (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research).

ONGC has a 100 percent participating interest in the Block 8 in Iraq, awarded in 2001.

Iraq produces about 2.3 million barrels of oil a day, dwarfed by its 115 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves. Only those of Saudi Arabia and Iran are larger.

An Iraqi oil official said last year Iraq's oil sector could need as much as $75 billion in investment.

Iraq has not said what fields it will tender, or on what terms, but the service and extraction contracts on offer are seen as a stop-gap until a crucial oil law is passed, and will not provide the long-term involvement big oil companies crave. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by James Jukwey)