PetroChina Raises RMB100 BLN for Key Projects     

PetroChina Co., Ltd. (SH: 601857)'s shareholder meeting on May 12th approved a plan to raise RMB100 billion in 2009 via debt financing.
    "The fund will be mainly raised by bond issuance and be used on key projects with strategic importance, including expanding oil exploration and development in Erdos and Tarim basins and fastening the structural adjustment of refining projects, especially those in coastal regions," PetroChina President Zhou Jiping said.
   "PetroChina will also invest in construction of oil and gas pipeline network, including pipelines to connect gas resources from Central Asia and those linking oil fields in Russia. The company will also accelerate overseas business expansion."
   PetroChina is studying increasing the volume of the first phase of China's second west-east gas pipeline, which has transported 30 billion cubic meters of gas so far, Chairman Jiang Jiemin said.
   Overseas business is a key for the company's development. PetroChina will seek overseas acquisition opportunities amid the global recession and low crude oil prices. PetroChina's strategy is to strengthen cooperation with oil-rich countries and international oil companies, Mr. Jiang said.
   China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC）, PetroChina's parent, will form two joint venture refineries in China with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, which will process crude oil from Venezuela, Jiang confirmed. CNPC will hold a 60% stake and PDVSA the rest. One of the two refineries will be located in Jieyang, east of Guangdong province. A nearby storage facility and other fundamental scheme have been decided, and initial design work has also started. But Jiang declined to unveil the location and progress on another.
   CNPC's projects in Venezuela are doing well, Jiang said. In addition to two existing ones, the company is also studying on two new projects, adding CNPC would bring in some 40 million tons of oil resources from Venezuela when bilateral projects come on line in the future.
   CNPC is in talks with PDVSA to build joint venture upstream business in Venezuela, for which CNPC will hold a 40% stake and PDVSA 60%. They also plan to establish an equally owned shipping venture.
   CNPC has also in talks with ExxonMobil on purchasing liquefied natural gas from western Australia, and there will be no regulatory obstacle, Jiang confirmed.
   PetroChina is in progress of four LNG receiving terminals, with two of them already under construction in Rudong, Jiangsu province and Dalian, Liaoning province. The other two sites, Shenzhen in Guangdong province and Caofeidian in Hebei province are ready for construction. "The number one task is to secure gas supply for the two terminals," said Jiang.