PetroChina says graft report not accurate
Trading in shares of energy giant briefly halted after newspaper says five executives were taken away as part of an investigation into corruption
Trading in PetroChina shares resumed yesterday afternoon after being halted in the morning following a mainland newspaper report that five of its executives had been taken away as part of an corruption investigation.
The oil company dismissed the report by China Business News yesterday as "inaccurate". Its shares closed 1.3 per cent higher, at HK$8.81, compared to a 0.6 per cent rise of the Hang Seng Index.
The report said among the five taken away on Thursday were PetroChina vice-president Sun Longde and director Wang Guoliang . It cited an unidentified source close to the company's parent, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), of which Wang is a board member.
The paper said it was not clear whether the five were themselves being investigated or were assisting ongoing investigations.
The oil company issued a statement denying Sun and Wang were the subject of an investigation, saying the pair "continue to perform their duties at the company as usual". But the wording left open the possibility the men could be assisting an inquiry.
The statement also avoided saying whether the three other officials mentioned in the article, including Wu Mei , head of a CNPC department overseeing strategic planning, were taken away or under investigation.
The news came as investigators have widened their probe into the state-owned oil industry in recent weeks to include a number of prominent former and incumbent CNPC officials.