ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: Pakistan has approved a total of 11 potential bidders to participate in the privatization of two state-run oil companies, the government said on Friday. The Privatization Commission said seven companies had pre-qualified to enter the race for a 51 per cent stake in Pakistan State Oil after 15 had expressed interest in January. Four had approval to bid for a 51 per cent stake and management control of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).

The commission’s statement did not name the potential bidders and did not say when the sales were likely to take place. PSO, which controls almost 70 per cent of Pakistan’s petroleum marketing business, has been on the government’s sale list for a long time but its auction has been postponed several times due to lukewarm interest from buyers.

The government holds a 78.4 per cent stake in PPL, operator of the country’s largest gas fields, while the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corp, holds six per cent. PPL was listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange in September last year, when the government sold 10 per cent through an initial public offering.

Privatization of state-run oil, gas, telecommunication companies as well as banks has been a major plank of Pakistan’s economic policies over the past several years.—Reuters