March 15, 2002	Friday	Zilhaj 30, 1422

ISLAMABAD, March 14: The Privatization Commission has invited Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from qualified strategic investors for 51 per cent equity stake in Pakistan State Oil (PSO), together with management control.

The interested parties have been asked to submit their EOIs with details of their company/ group, background information, experience in petroleum sector and management of Oil Marketing companies, along with audited financial statements for the preceding three years by April 10.

EoIs must be accompanied with a non-refundable processing fee of $5,000 or Rs300,000. Request of Statement of Qualification (RSoQ) packages will be dispatched from April 10, to the interested parties. Early submission of EOIs will allow the parties maximum time for completion of their SoQ requirements. The date for submission of SoQs will be indicated subsequently.

PSO is the largest oil marketing company (OMC) in Pakistan and is engaged in the storage, distribution and marketing of petroleum products, with more than 3,750 retail outlets across the country.

For the fiscal year ended June 2001, PSO generated sales volume of 12.6 million tons with sales revenue in excess of Rs169 billion ($2.8 billion) and after-tax profits of Rs2.25 billion ($37.5 million).

PSO is the third largest publicly listed company in Pakistan by equity market capitalization and a recipient of Karachi Stock Exchange Top 25 Companies award for 17 consecutive years. Preliminary information on PSO can be obtained from the web sties:www.privatization.gov.pk and www.psoci.com

Annual demand for petroleum products in Pakistan is approximately 18 million tons. Currently there are five Oil Marketing Companies operating in Pakistan with PSO commanding a substantial share of the market. Government of Pakistan is continuing its structural reform programme for the sector under a phased deregulation process that includes the formation of an independent Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

Last month, the government said it would privatize PSO, as an integrated unit, rather than split it into different units covering its retail, distribution and storage services.

The Privatization Commission (PC) says it expects to complete the PSO sale by August or September this year.

“We are advertising for (interest in) PSO soon,” an official in the Privatisation Commission told Reuters. “We are advertising for its sale within the next three or four days.”

PSO Managing Director Tariq Kirmani told Reuters last week that the financial advisers for the transaction — U.S. investment banker J.P. Morgan — had almost completed due diligence checks on the company.—APP/Reuters