PetroChina shares to debut in Shanghai

PetroChina Company Limited has overtaken Royal Dutch Shell to become the world’s second largest oil company by market valuation behind Exxon Mobil Corp., after the company announced plans to debut its shares on the Shanghai bourse in November in a bid to raise as much as RMB50 million (US$6.6 million). PetroChina has engaged Swiss investment bank UBS’ Beijing-based joint venture and China’s leading stock broker, CITIC securities, to underwrite the deal. According to its 2006 annual report, PetroChina posted a turnover of approximately RMB 688 billion (US$90.9 billion) last year, up from its 2005 turnover of RMB552 billion (US$72.9 billion). (July 13, 2007)