PetroChina to Raise $8.9 Billion in China Share Sale

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — PetroChina Co., the nation’s largest oil producer, will raise 66.8 billion yuan ($8.9 billion) in the world’s biggest share sale this year to expand refineries and increase output at oilfields.

The company will sell 4 billion shares at 16.7 yuan apiece, PetroChina said today in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. That is the top end of a range offered. Investors applied for 3.3 trillion yuan of stock, two people with direct knowledge of the transaction said, asking not to be identified before an official announcement.


Chinese investors, undeterred by the world’s highest valuations for traded companies, are rushing to buy into a stock market that has almost tripled in size this year. PetroChina has jumped more than 16-fold since its Hong Kong listing in 2000 as oil prices gained threefold and demand surged, making the Beijing-based company the world’s second largest by market value.

“The record-high subscription is not a surprise to me given that oil prices will likely blow past $100 like a hot knife through butter this winter,” said Gordon Kwan, head of China energy research at CLSA Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg