BAGHDAD, May 11 (Reuters) - Iraq is holding an oil and

gas licensing round for 29 projects in a bid to develop its huge

gas reservoirs to help power the country and lure billions of

dollars in investments.

The exploration blocks are spread across 12 governorates in

mostly central and southern Iraq and for the first time include

an offshore exploration block in Iraq's Arab Gulf waters.

Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia,

last held a licensing round, its fifth, in 2018.

Saturday's "fifth plus" licensing round includes many

projects left over from that round plus a new sixth round with

14 projects, Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in

opening remarks.

More than 20 companies pre-qualified for Saturday's round,

including European, Chinese, Arab and Iraqi groups but no U.S.

oil majors.

Iraq's oil production capacity has grown from 3 million to

around 5 million barrels per day (bpd) in recent years, but the

departure of giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM ) and Royal Dutch

Shell Plc from a number of projects due to poor returns means

future growth is uncertain.

Developments have also slowed due to growing investor focus

on environmental, social and governance criteria.

Iraq at one time had targeted becoming a rival to top global

producer Saudi Arabia with output of 12 million bpd or over a

tenth of global demand.