KUALA LUMPUR, May 29: Pakistan’s Minister of Privatisation and Investment said on Tuesday that the British energy giant BP has not yet won a majority stake in Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

Zahid Hamid said that bidding for a controlling stake in the country's largest oil supplier would only begin later in June.

“It's impossible. All they did was apply to the Privatisation Commission for pre-qualification (for bidding),” Hamid told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, where he was attending the World Islamic Economic Forum.

BP and its partner, Merchant Bridge, have teamed up for the bid with Pakistan's Kohinoor Group, which had already been pre-qualified, Hamid said.

“They (BP) have ... just last week been pre-qualified as one of seven consortia, which will be bidding for this. It is an open, fair and transparent process,” he said.

Other interested parties, include Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas and oil marketing company Vitol.

The Times newspaper, citing sources, reported late last month that BP was tipped to win a majority stake in PSO in a deal worth $600 million.

Pakistan's government owns 54 per cent of PSO and has hired JP Morgan, the US investment bank, to sell a 51 per cent stake in the company.

PSO owns two refineries and 3,700 petrol stations in Pakistan, and posted sales of Rs353 billion ($5.8 billion) in the group's financial year ending in June 2006.

—AFP