Sarajevo- Representatives of a Malaysian company said Tuesday in Sarajevo they would be interested in exploring several potential oilfields in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the government of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation entity confirmed.

Officials of the Tara-Drina Company, led by the company's president, Malaysian businessman Joseph Vijay Kumar, met Tuesday in Sarajevo with the entity's Prime Minister Nedzad Brankovic to express their interest.

The government statement quoted Brankovic as saying that Bosnian company Energoinvest was already given authority over the possible oilfields, but that they would need a partner, as Energoinvest was unable to deal with the issue on its own.

The Malaysian company said it had specific interest in locations near the northern city of Tuzla, the southern city of Stolac and the south-western Livno.

Although they said exploration of the sites needed to be done, the Tara-Drina representatives said they believed enough oil could be found to cover Bosnia's needs as well as to sell to foreign markets.

Sarajevo daily Dnevni avaz quoted Kumar as saying his company was be ready to invest 80 to 90 million dollars around the Tuzla area.

Research about possible oil deposits in Bosnia-Herzegovina were conducted in 1913 and then several years before the country's 1992-95 war.

Media reported that Bosnian experts believe some 20 million tons of oil could be found in the north of the country and as any as 500 million in the south.

Some US and British companies, according to media, have also expressed interest in oil exploration in Bosnia. (dpa)