PETROCHINA Co, the nation's largest oil company, said a plan to buy its parent's share of an overseas oil and gas exploration joint venture is at "an early stage."
"We are still doing a feasibility study on the acquisition and no final decision has been reached by the board of directors," Mao Zefeng, PetroChina's Hong Kong-based spokesman, told Bloomberg News yesterday. Mao commented after Dow Jones Newswires reported that a deal could be announced within days.
PetroChina has started work on acquiring parent China National Petroleum Corp's 50-percent stake in CNPC Exploration & Development Co, said Chairman Jiang Jiemin. PetroChina and its parent have an equal stake in the firm.