Analysts expect tomorrow's announcement to exclude blocks in economically attractive but politically sensitive Sudan
Oil and gas giant PetroChina is expected to announce an acquisition of its parent China National Petroleum Corp's (CNPC) overseas oil and gas assets tomorrow, according to industry sources.
The long-awaited move would help drive future output growth, addressing investor concerns about stagnant domestic production and newly proved resources barely covering production during the past few years. PetroChina's spokesman would not comment, but the company has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow to discuss business developments.
Chairman Chen Geng said in March that the firm would either pay in cash for the overseas assets from CNPC or swap assets with it.
While the location and valuation of the assets to be acquired by PetroChina is not known, analysts said they would most likely exclude those in politically sensitive Sudan.
'We believe only non-Sudan operating blocks would be included to avoid any sensitive issue [hounding] PetroChina's acquisition,' Daiwa Securities associate director Rachel Tsang Wai-ming wrote in a research note.
When PetroChina was listed in Hong Kong and New York in 2000, United States labour and human rights groups urged investors to shun its share offering, partly due to its links with Sudan, which had been slapped with US sanctions.