National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will announce a second list of international companies approved to bid in the country's oil and gas tenders, a report said.

The first list issued earlier this month recorded 29 oil and gas companies, including Russia's Lukoil and Gazprom, Gholamreza Manouchehri, NIOC’s deputy head was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily report, which cited Mehr News Agency.

The first list also includes oil majors such as France's Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Italy's Eni, Danish conglomerate Maersk, Austria's OMV and Schlumberger as well as East Asian companies such as CNPC and Sinopec, Inpex, KOGAS and Petronas, the report said.

"NIOC welcomes cooperation with all companies with advanced knowhow and the will to expand their role in Iran's upstream petroleum sector, and this is why Russian majors are unlikely to be excluded from Iran's oil tenders,” Manouchehri added, noting that Zarubezhneft and Tatneft, who have signed preliminary agreements to study Iranian oilfields, are likely to make it into the second list.