Libya's top oil official on Monday said that his country's sovereign wealth fund should invest in BP to take advantage of the troubled company's falling share price.
Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's national oil company, made the comments amid speculation that BP was seeking to raise capital from the oil-rich Middle East.
"BP is interesting now with the price lower by half and I still have trust in BP, I will recommend it to the LIA [the Libyan Investment Authority]," Mr Ghanem told Dow Jones.
Mr Ghanem's comments came after an official in the Gulf told the Financial Times that BP had already been reaching out to investment entities in the region, particularly those with which it already had relations.
The official said the troubled oil company was looking for access to capital to make it less vulnerable to competitors and potential takeover bids.
The message, the official said, was: "Our stock is cheap, why not buy some?"
A senior international banker in the Gulf said there had been signs of interest from investors in the region, but added "there is a big difference between interest and writing a cheque."
"They might be willing to invest if BP is desperate, but there is a long way to go yet. BP has not mandated advisers to market fundraising yet," the banker added.
The Arab Gulf is home to some of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds, which have previously stepped in to inject capital into western banks, including Citigroup and Barclays.
BP has a particularly long history with the United Arab Emirates, which is home to several government-controlled funds that invest in energy related assets.
