UPDATE 1-Iraq says fifth oil licensing round will be in next few months

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RAVENNA, Italy, March 20 (Reuters) - OPEC member Iraq's fifth licensing round for oil exploration will be held in the next few months and will come from 10 oil blocks, its oil minister said on Wednesday.

Iraq, which has some of the world's largest oil reserves is pushing hard to develop the industry, shattered by years of war and instability.

"In the next few months there will be the fifth licensing round," Iraqi oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said at an industry conference in Italy.

Iraq's fourth energy auction ended last year with few foreign investors tendering bids after a disappointing showing.

This could force Baghdad to ease tough contract terms to lure more oil explorers into a new bidding round that should focus on gas, while the oil will be used to boost reserves.

"In previous contract awards no importance was given to gas. We have now started a major project to develop gas," Luaibi said.

Baghdad's less attractive service contracts combined with a recent boom in natural gas supplies and gas finds elsewhere in the world may have further quashed investor interest in a tricky gas prospect like Iraq.

Violence in Iraq has eased since the height of the war, though security remains a concern, especially in more remote areas where some of the auctioned gas blocks are located.

Companies entering new deals also weighed risks from Iraq's continued political instability against the potential gas and crude developments on offer in the bidding, which are mostly in western and central Iraq.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes,; additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; editing by Keiron Henderson and James Jukwey)

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Keywords: IRAQ ENERGY