BEIJING, Sept. 7 -- China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has denied it is in talks to sell as much as half of its US$4.18 billion acquisition of a strategically important oil company to Kazakhstan's state-owned oil firm.

    The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday the deal by CNPC to sell a 33 to 50 percent stake in PetroKazakhstan Inc., a Canadian firm with operations in the neighboring central Asia state, to KazMunaiGaz was expected to be sealed in the next few weeks.

    "There are no such talks," said a spokesman for CNPC's International Department.

    The newspaper also quoted a spokesman denying that the company was involved in negotiations to sell part of its stake.

    CNPC is the State-owned parent company of Asia's top listed oil firm, PetroChina. It won an auction for PetroKazakhstan in August, beating a competing bid by a joint venture between ONGC Videsh Ltd., the international arm of India¡¯s state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corp., and an investment company owned by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.

    The losing consortium has said it is still considering making a higher counter bid.

    CNPC's acquisition of PetroKazakhstan was one of a series of deals in the past few years, in which China has sought to secure sources of crude oil by buying foreign companies.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)