* Government to issue tender for consultants
* Deal expected to be signed at end of 2014
* Investment expected to $300 mln-$700 mln
By Daria Sito-Sucic
SARAJEVO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-CroatFederation expects to start talks in late February with a unitof oil major Royal Dutch Shell on a concession for oilexploration, a minister said on Monday.
The talks with Shell Exploration Company, which start onlyafter the government has picked consultants, are expected tolast up to nine months, Federation Energy Minister Erdal Trhuljtold Reuters.
"Bearing in mind the extent of the possible deal, we wouldbe able to sign a contract awarding the concession to Shell atthe end of 2014," Trhulj said. "This is an enormous endeavourthat has never before been conducted in Bosnia.".
The investment will range between $300 million and $700million depending on the number of drilling sites, he said.
After the 1992-95 war, Bosnia was split into two autonomousregions, the federation dominated by Muslim Bosniaks and Croats,and the Serb Republic. Each has a right to use natural resourceson its soil without consulting the other region.
Before the war, U.S. and British researchers identified fivepotential oilfields in the Muslim-Croat Federation and possiblyas many in the Serb Republic.
The federation government approached Shell in 2011 afterdeciding to revive oil and gas exploration plans based on thepre-war research.
A two-year preliminary deal signed in November 2011 tasked Shell with developing a data room.
In September this year, Shell expressed interest to get aconcession in three areas containing possible deposits, but thegovernment agreed only to a concession in the Dinaridi area,stretching from the town of Bihac in the west to the Adriatictown of Neum in the south.
Experts say that southern deposits, located at a depth of4,000-8,000 metres, could contain up to 500 million tonnes ofoil reserves, while northern beds are estimated at around 70million tonnes.
The Serb Republic in 2011 awarded a concession for exploringpotential oilfields to Jadran Naftagas, a joint venture betweenRussia's Neftegazinkor, a unit of state-owned Zarubezhneft, andSerbian oil firm NIS, majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft.
The company started drilling last June as part of a $41million investment in the first exploration phase but has so farreported no significant findings.
