State-run Korea National Oil Corp., or KNOC, recently hired six banks to embark on a U.S. dollar-denominated bond sale, a person familiar with the deal said Tuesday.

The firm selected Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Chase, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Korea Development Bank as lead managers for the senior unsecured bond sale, the person said.

While the maturity of the paper has yet to be decided, the issue will likely be at least benchmark in size, another person familiar with the deal said Monday.

-By Kanga Kong, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2230; kanga.kong@dowjones.com