DOHA- Qatar Financial Markets Authority has approved a request to publicly list shares of Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum), Qatar News Agency said on Thursday.

State energy giant Qatar Petroleum said in May that it will list 49 percent of its shares in the aluminium smelter plant Qatalum in a public offering during the last quarter of this year. Norway's Norsk Hydro owns 50 percent in the joint venture.

(Reporting By Eric Knecht; Writing by Tom Arnold Editing by Alexandra Hudson) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))