PetroChina seeks more ‘Belt and Road’ acquisitions, lifts gas output to feed China’s war on air pollution

State-backed PetroChina will step up its acquisition efforts in nations covered by President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and boost gas output to meet rising demand stemming from Beijing’s war on pollution, according to its chief. 

“We will focus more on acquisition opportunities in nations covered by the initiative as part of our globalisation strategy,” chairman Wang Yilin told reporters on Friday, referring to the more than 60 countries where Beijing is pushing for greater trade and investment cooperation. 

His comments came close on the heels of PetroChina’s winning bids on Wednesday to invest a total of US$1.17 billion for 10 per cent stakes in two projects off the coast of Abu Dhabi.    

The energy giant has been largely absent from the international asset acquisition arena except for smaller exploration projects since the oil price slump began in mid-2014. 

Wang said it saw off many international majors to clinch the Abu Dhabi investments and is confident the deals will prove beneficial to PetroChina’s overseas asset portfolio. 

Vice-chairman Wang Dongjin said it may consider buying parent company China National Petroleum Corp’s 8 per cent stake in an onshore project in Abu Dhabi purchased a year ago for US$1.77 billion, once its “internal rate of return” hits PetroChina’s minimum requirement of 10 per cent. When CNPC bid for the stake, the estimated return rate was 8.2 per cent.  

PetroChina on Thursday posted a 190 per cent jump in net profit to 22.8 billion yuan for 2017, closer to the high end of the 165 to 203 per cent range it had forecast in late January.