TEHRAN, Iran and Italy's ENI were due to sign Saturday a contract worth around one billion dollars to develop the Darkhoein oil field in Southwestern Iran, AFP quoted an Iranian official as saying.

"The contract will be signed Saturday evening in Tehran in the presence of executives of the Italian group and senior officials of the Oil Ministry," the official, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.

The contract would make Italy a major player in the Iranian petroleum industry at a time when the United States is endeavoring to strengthen its sanctions against Tehran.

ENI Ceo Vittorio Mincato had said on Thursday that the contract, to develop a field containing an estimated 2.5 billion barrels, would be signed "very soon."

Mincato said "There are still some details to sort out' we hope to settle the matter very soon."

Darkhoein is located in Khuzestan Province, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Abadan. Discovered in 1964, it is currently producing only some 4,000 barrels a day (bpd), but that could reach 100,000 bpd in the first phase of development, Iranian oil officials have said.

Iran is the second largest exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, at 3.6 million bpd.

In Tokyo, meanwhile, the *** Nihon Keizai Shimbun *** newspaper reported that Japan plans to submit a "concrete" proposal Saturday to Iran to develop the Azadegan oil field.

It quoted Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma as saying: "We will submit a concrete plan to develop the Azadegan oil field to the Iranian side on June 30."

A Japanese consortium consisting of partners from the public and private sectors is currently pursuing the development of the Azadegan oil field, it could be one of the Japan's largest oil field development project if if assumptions about Aazadegan prove correct.