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MOSCOW, July 10 (Reuters) Rosneft's flotation, the largest ever by a Russian company, looks set to be priced near the middle of its offer range as oil industry investors effectively underwrite the $11 billion-plus initial public offering.

One banker involved in the float said that BP Plc, China's CNPC, India's ONGC and Malaysia's Petronas, could between them buy up to half of the offering of shares in state-owned Rosneft, Russia's No.3 oil firm by output.

There has been an ''acceleration'' of interest from portfolio investors but, with pricing due on Thursday, some are holding back from committing until the last minute, the banker said.

''When the IPO is this big there is no shortage of stock, and the institutions come in late,'' the IPO banker told Reuters. ''There is some price sensitivity.'' Rosneft wants to float between 13 and 19 percent of its stock, raising up to $11.6 billion in an initial public offering valuing the company at $60 billion to $80 billion.

That puts Rosneft at a potential premium to Russia's No.1 oil firm LUKOIL in relation to earnings, output and reserves, and has led some portfolio investors to balk at the offer price.

The order book was already covered last week, however, and the IPO banker said that the final pricing would probably value Rosneft at between $65 billion and $71 billion.

''The price range is moving towards 65, 70, 71 (billion dollars market capitalisation),'' the banker said. ''It was 65-80. It's definitely not 60. It's more in the middle.'' The market currently values LUKOIL at $72 billion, according to Reuters data.

A second IPO banker was more upbeat. ''Interest is very strong.

The book is oversubscribed. It's a combination of strategic investors, Russian institutions and dedicated emerging markets funds,'' the banker said.

Interest expressed on the final leg of road shows in the United States was good. ''Overall we expect a solid, well subscribed issue,'' the second banker added, without giving any hints on pricing.

Spread betting house Cantor Index quoted Rosneft shares in the grey market on Monday at $6.45-$6.85 apiece, on the low side of the middle of the $5.85-$7.85 IPO offer range.

OIL COMPANIES Key to successful completion of the float has been interest expressed by foreign oil companies in buying what analysts call an entry ticket to the upstream oil and gas sector in Russia.

India's ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp., is willing to invest up to $3 billion, the country's energy minister has said.

Sources close to Rosneft said CNPC, BP and Malaysia's Petronas had already put in orders for stock.

The sources said CNPC was also interested in investing up to $3 billion while Petronas was interested in a slightly smaller stake.

One source close to Rosneft said BP's order was for around $2 billion worth of stock.

Sources close to BP, which owns a half-share in Russian venture TNK-BP, said the British oil major had still not made a final decision on whether to invest.

According to media reports Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska, keen to break into the oil industry, is interested in buying into Rosneft. A Deripaska spokesman has declined comment.

Rosneft has solicited bids from strategic investors but is keen to limit their involvement to around 2 percent per partner so that it does not end up with an overly influential minority shareholder, the first IPO banker said.

''The company does not want to allocate the whole lot to strategics. It wants to get closer to one or two,'' the banker said, contrasting Rosneft with U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips' goal of buying a 20 percent stake in LUKOIL.

''It's a special relationship, but it's not Conoco-Lukoil.'' REUTERS SBA KN1836