September 22, 2006	Friday	Sha'aban 28, 1427

THE HAGUE, Sept 21: Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL confirmed on Thursday it was among several pre-qualified candidates to bid for a 51 per cent stake in state-run Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL).

Ferenc Farkas, MOL vice-president of portfolio development, said his company was interested in submitting a bid for PPL together with a partner once the privatisation process was open, but had yet to take a final investment decision.

The Pakistani government has said it has pre-qualified four companies to enter the race for 51 per cent in PPL, which operates Pakistan's largest gas field at Sui in Balochistan.

“We have a strong interest and position to bid,” Farkas told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference in The Hague.

“It was published by the Pakistan government that we are present there with a partner in the game. That means that we would provide a joint bid. We are considering and evaluating the conditions. We will make our final investment decision based on a very thorough examination together with our investment partner,” Farkas said.

He declined to give more details.

PPL is high on the government's privatisation agenda. It was partly privatised in July 2004, when the government sold 102.8 million shares to the public.

The state still holds a 78.4 per cent stake in the firm, while six per cent is held by the World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corp. The public holds 15 per cent.

—Reuters