ISLAMABAD, July 26: Pakistan's Oil and Gas Development Co Ltd (OGDCL) is in talks for its first overseas joint venture in China and is exploring forays into the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, its chief said on Thursday.

“We are still negotiating. There is an opportunity in China and our people are there to look into it,” Arshad Nasar, chairman and chief executive officer of the country's top listed state-owned firm, told Reuters in an interview.

OGDCL also seeking joint venture possibilities in Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Hungary, he said.

“Much ground has been covered in this respect,” Nasar said, without giving details.

Another OGDCL official, who declined to be named, said the company was in discussions with Chinese companies such as China National Petroleum Corporation International (CNPCI) and PetroChina Co. Ltd.“We are exchanging data and negotiating with these companies and looking for commercially viable projects,” said the official, who would not say when a deal was likely.

OGDCL will be the first Pakistani oil firm to venture abroad, coming late into an arena led by Chinese, Indian, Japanese and South Korean companies competing to secure scarce energy resources, sparked by trebled oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East.

Chinese and Indian state firms have also agreed to a series of cooperation pacts, but apart from a few small acquisitions, there is little evidence of multi-billion-dollar deals.

OGCDL had bid for a block in Qatar but did not succeed, the official said.

OGDCL operates 37 wells and 17 exploration sites in Pakistan and has interests in 28 non-operated leases.

Nasar said after “record-breaking” achievements in 2006-07, OGDCL would adopt a more aggressive approach in financial year 2007-08 (July-June).

“For this year, the OGDCL has set a target of 50 wells and is aiming to increase its gas output to over 1,000 million cubic feet.” Last year, OGDCL drilled 41 wells in Pakistan, 11 more than in the 2005-06 year, and made 10 new discoveries.—Reuters