Sinopec, MOL in talks on upstream cooperation

China's Sinopec Corp and Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL are in talks on cooperating in exploration and production activities, MOL Communications Director Szabolcs I. Ferencz said on Tuesday.

Ferencz declined to say where the two firms could work jointly or when an announcement could be made and said several options were under discussion.

"All I can confirm at this point is that there are discussions about upstream cooperation in a third country, meaning not in China or Hungary," Ferencz told Reuters.

Hungarian national news agency MTI reported late on Monday that MOL Chief Executive Gyorgy Mosonyi, who is in Beijing with the delegation of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, held top level talks with Sinopec on specific cooperation proposals.

MTI added that Gyurcsany, along with Finance Minister Janos Veres and Economy Minister Janos Koka also attended the talks.

MOL is currently involved in exploration projects in Russia, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, among others, and said it was seeking news upstream projects, primarily in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. ADVERTISEMENT

MOL has been seeking upstream assets for a long time, and more recently has been fighting off an approach by Austria's OMV.