By Stephen Jewkes and Oleg Vukmanovic
MILAN, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni is talking tooil companies including Lukoil, ExxonMobil,Total and BP about selling at least a 20percent stake in its giant gas field in Egypt, industry sourcessaid.
Eni owns the whole of Zohr and has said it is interested inbringing in partners as part of its strategy of selling some ofits prize acreage to help meet a target of raising 5 billioneuros from asset disposal over the next two years.
Analyst have said a 25 percent stake in the Zohr field, theMediterranean's biggest, could fetch up to 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion).
Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi has said any deal on Zohrwould have to wait until next year when final appraisals arecomplete and production kicks in.
"It may be early days but Eni has started talking," said onebanker familiar with the Italian group.
Eni, Total and Exxon did not comment, while BP said it didnot comment on rumour and speculation. Lukoil declined immediatecomment.
A run of big gas finds off the Egyptian coast have made thecountry a top destination for energy investment even as firmsseek to save cash to better handle low oil prices.
Many of the companies looking at Eni's Zohr are eitheralready active in Egypt or have recently landed borderingacreage in Cyprus, such as Exxon Mobil and Total.
Zohr, one of the largest gas discoveries this century, holdsan estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas and has relativelylow development costs.
A lot of infrastructure is also already in place, includingan idle LNG facility at Damietta, and Cairo is willing to payexplorers attractive rates to satisfy internal demand.
"For the likes of BP and Eni there is huge domestic demand so any gas they find can be sent into the local market and theycan get a good price for it," Wood Mackenzie analyst AdamPollard said.
BP, already a major oil and gas producer in Egypt, haspumped billions of dollars into developing its huge West NileDelta gas license and fast-tracked work on its latest find, theAtoll field in Egypt.
Pollard said BP's appetite for a stake in Zohr could betempered though by the $3 billion development costs at Atoll. ($1 = 0.8925 euros) (Editing by Susan Thomas)