bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett appears close to selling all of his holdings in PetroChina, disclosing he had cut his stake to 3.1 per cent of the company's publicly held shares.
The move by the world's most famous investor did not  affect the stock which yesterday soared to a record. Other investors  still look favourably on PetroChina.
Emerging markets fund manager Mark Mobius of Templeton Asset Management, for one,  said shares of the mainland's top oil producer were still attractive.
Buffet is under pressure to sell his stake in PetroChina following criticism  from human rights groups about the company's links with civil strife in Sudan.
China National Petroleum Corp, PetroChina's state-owned parent, is the largest foreign developer of oil fields in Sudan, where the government has been accused by the US of supporting genocide in  its western Darfur region.
The sell-down of the shares would free him from criticism over links to Sudan, analysts said.
PetroChina climbed 5.9 per cent to a record HK$15.44 yesterday, translating into a more than 10-fold gain since it went public in 2001. The company has benefited from soaring oil prices and a booming economy.
'Clearly, in the current market, nobody seems to care [about Buffett's exit],' said Brynjar Eirik Bustnes, an analyst at JP Morgan, 'What was often cited as the best reason to own the stock has now been replaced by 1.4 billion Chinese eager to own the stock.'
Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's listed flagship, this week disclosed a seventh sale of PetroChina shares, cutting its stake to 3.1 per cent as of September 30, from 5.44 per cent five days earlier and 11.05 per cent in May.
As Berkshire's interest is already below 5 per cent, the threshold above which the firm is required to declare any shareholding changes, analysts suspect Buffett might already have sold down the  remaining 652.9 million Berkeshire held when it filed with the regulatory body as of September 30.
PetroChina's shares have gained 23 per cent since Buffett first revealed he was selling the shares on July 12.
Berkshire bought its stake for less than HK$1.70 a share in April 2003, paying US$488 million for the holding. Analysts guessed Mr Buffett had reaped a profit of more than HK$15 billion from the disposals, assuming he still holds the 652.9 million shares.
Oil companies 'still have a way to go,' Mr Mobius said. 'We still hold PetroChina ... we bought some [recently].' The fund he manages holds 5.14 per cent of the oil giant's H shares.



Forget Venezuela and Greenland – here is the real trillion-dollar question

China ‘billion-dollar investor’ claims to have ‘love brain’, posts marriage advertisement

Warren Buffett signals smooth transition to Greg Abel in letter to Berkshire shareholders

PetroChina shares leap to record despite Buffett reducing holding