* Chinese, others sound out major Canadian fund on Potash (Updates with sources' comments on official order, possibleSinochem-CIC tie-up)

By Joseph Chaney and Victoria Thieberger

HONG KONG/MELBOURNE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Chinese officialshave ordered state-owned companies to meet with investmentbankers to explore potential options to block BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Canada's Potash Corp, according to a sourcewith direct knowledge of the matter.

In response to the directive, Sinochem is holding meetingswith multiple banks, the source said, including Citigroup, HSBC and Morgan Stanley.

The order from Beijing underscores the seriousness with whichChina is taking the potential BHP-Potash tie up and itsimplications for the pricing and supply of the important cropnutrient, despite the obstacles to launching a successfulcounter-bid.

"They are being instructed," the source said, adding theorder was issued late last week. "The chairman of Sinochem hasbeen asked to speak to other banks."

News of Beijing's directive follows a Wall Street Journalreport on Thursday that Sinochem had hired HSBC to advise thecompany on options pertaining to Potash Corp.

One option being discussed is the possibility of Sinochemlinking up with China's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, CIC,according to a second banking source familiar with the matter.

The most likely scenario is that China will consider buying ablocking stake, rather than attempt a complete takeover ofPotash Corp, both sources said.

The sources were not authorised to speak publicly due to thesensitive nature of the discussions.

Assuming that any consortium pays a 20 percent premium toPotash Corp's current market price, a 15 percent stake in Potashwould cost about $8.3 billion.

Sinochem and the banks declined to comment. CIC could notimmediately be reached.

PENSION FUNDS

Chinese firms also have approached at least one big Canadianpension manager about a bid for Potash Corp to rival BHPBilliton's hostile offer.

The disclosure on Thursday by Alberta Investment ManagementCorp, which manages some C$70 billion ($67 billion) in publicsector pension funds, was one of the first pieces of hardevidence to back up speculation that China is looking for a wayto derail a takeover of the Canadian company by the powerfulAnglo-Australian miner.

AIMCo said it was not interested, because the economics didnot work.

The possibility of Chinese involvement in a valuableCanadian resource has raised concerns in Saskatchewan, which isworried that a takeover of its largest company by a foreign firmor major customer could affect jobs and government revenue.

Saskatchewan Energy Minister Bill Boyd has raised concernsabout China buying into Potash Corp and about BHP's statedintent to eventually market its potash offshore on its own,rather than through the export consortium Canpotex.

ENERGY OPTIONS?

For its part, BHP had been eyeing a major acquisition in theoil and gas sector over the past year, but was unlikely to moveon its ambitions while it is tied up with its bid for PotashCorp, a source said on Friday.

BHP, flush with cash since abandoning a roughly $140 billiontakeover of rival Rio Tinto in 2008, has been on the hunt fordeals to cement its position as the world's largest diversifiedminer.

It considered, then abandoned, a joint offer with RoyalDutch Shell last year for Australian oil and gas firm WoodsidePetroleum worth some A$35 billion ($31.9 billion), theAustralian newspaper reported on Friday.

BHP did not return calls seeking comment on the newspaperreport, which also cited an unnamed global energy industryfigure as saying the mining giant may also be interested inAnadarko Petroleum Corp.

"The problem with Woodside is it is a very expensive oilcompany and because there is always takeover speculation, it isvery hard to make the numbers work," a source familiar with thesituation told Reuters.

BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers is currently focused onwooing Potash shareholders and BHP's own investors in fourcontinents about the merits of the offer.

He is expected to spend the next few weeks shuttling betweenEurope and North America as he tries to clinch his first majordeal after three years on the job.

"They are pretty busy right now, but they are a big companyso within six to 12 months of getting one deal done there couldbe presumably be another one," the source added.

Analysts poured cold water on the notion of a secondsimultaneous major deal, even for a mining giant with BHP'sfinancial muscle.

"I would have thought it unlikely for BHP to be looking attwo large acquisitions at the same time. The size of the twotransactions matter," said BT's Barker. (Additional reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram in Sydney, RodNickel in Toronto, Michael Flaherty and Denny Thomas in HongKong, Tracy Zheng in Beijing; Editing by Hans Peters)