Top Biz News

CNPC buys into Russian oil giant

By Xiao Wan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-20 09:05

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the nation's largest oil company, has bought US$500 million worth of shares in Russian oil giant OAO Rosneft.

CNPC announced yesterday it had bought the 66.2252 million shares in Rosneft at US$7.55 per share.

The Russian firm is scheduled to go public on both the London and Moscow stock exchanges in an initial public offering (IPO), one of the largest of its kind worldwide.

"CNPC's subscription of Rosneft shares will further expand co-operation and deepen the long-term co-operative relationship," CNPC said in a statement.

The two companies set up a fundamental principle of complementary co-operation for common development in a long-term co-operation agreement signed in July 2005, according to the statement.

After receiving Rosneft's invitation to subscribe to its listed shares, CNPC kept a close track of the IPO process.

Based on its long-term development strategy and the results of a comprehensive evaluation, CNPC officially submitted its subscription proposal to Rosneft on July 12, the statement said.