ISLAMABAD, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A bid by Pakistan's biggest listed firm, Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd. (OGDCL), for BP's local assets has been delayed because of a legal issue, company officials said.
Two OGDCL officials said on Tuesday the company had asked BP to give it more time to make the submission, hoping the legal issue would be resolved.
OGDCL spokesman Basharat Mirza said on Monday it would bid jointly with Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL), Pakistan's second-largest listed firm by market value, for the assets. He said the bid would be submitted later in the day.
The two companies had a Dec. 6 deadline to submit the bid, officials had said earlier.
In a petition filed last month, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a former chief of an Islamist party, is seeking reasons why the two state-owned companies - OGDCL and PPL - are trying to buy the BP assets that were sold by the government to BP in 2002 at what he called a "throwaway" price.
The OGDCL official said the company asked for an extension of the bid after a Supreme Court hearing in the case late on Monday. The court took up the case again on Tuesday and fixed the next hearing for Wednesday.
"Our management decided to delay the bid and asked for an extension, pending the outcome of the court decision," said one official, who asked not to be named.
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BP announced its plans to sell its upstream assets in Pakistan in July, as part of a $10 billion global asset sale aimed at raising cash to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
OGDCL already has some stakes in BP's Pakistan assets. . BP's upstream assets and related operations, which it plans to divest, include nine producing and exploration onshore blocks and four offshore exploration blocks in the Arabian Sea, according to official sources.
They contribute about 14 percent of Pakistan's total oil production and 6 percent of its domestic gas production.
UBS analysts estimated the worth of BP's fields in Pakistan at $690 million in a research note in July.
BP's main assets are in Badin in the southern Sindh province, comprising four concessions - Badin-I, Badin-II , Badin-IIR and Badin-III.
Of the four concessions, OGDCL has pre-emptive rights in all but Badin-I block, a source said last month.
They also said then that if it wins, OGDCL will not seek direct involvement and will operate the acquired assets through a company, jointly owned by it and PPL. (Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Michael Georgy and Jon Loades-Carter) (E-mail: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Islamabad newsroom: +92 51 281 0017)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)