According to those with knowledge of the situation, PetroChina Co.(NYSE:PTR), the largest oil and gas producer in the nation, is considering separating apart its marketing and trading operations and seeking a separate listing.
According to the individuals who wished to remain anonymous since the information is private, China National Petroleum Corp., the state-owned parent company of PetroChina(NYSE:PTR), has requested ideas from outside consultants regarding the viability of such a strategy. According to the sources, a spike in oil prices early this year encouraged the Beijing-based company to think about monetizing the operation.
Due to the intricacy of the corporate structures, discussions are still in the preliminary stages, and the state-run company has not yet made a final decision, according to the sources. While PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) did not reply to demands for comment, a CNPC spokesman declined to do so.
Exploration and production, refining and chemicals, marketing, as well as natural gas and pipelines, are PetroChina’s (NYSE:PTR) four primary business segments. According to its most recent English-language annual report, the marketing segment’s income increased by 45% to 2.17 trillion yuan ($320 billion) in 2021 from a year earlier, primarily as a result of the rise in the price and sales volume of refined oil. Additionally, the division last year had an operational profit of 13.28 billion yuan.
It was unclear whether only a portion of the marketing business would be spun off.
According to the annual report, the marketing division includes refined products, including those from other countries, along with crude oil, natural gas, and chemical products. According to the article, it also includes some non-oil sales at PetroChina’s (NYSE:PTR) gas stations across the nation. Over 37,000 employees worked at the company.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, oil prices rose early in the year before losing ground. Currently, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate futures is around $88, down from $122 in June.
Beijing has already studied a number of methods to monetize the companies of the nation’s two national oil champions, but few have come to pass. According to persons with knowledge of the situation at the time who spoke to Bloomberg News in 2019, it chose at least three banks to work on the creation of a national oil and gas pipeline firm. The world’s largest oil refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., widely known as Sinopec, had previously thought about going public with its retail division.
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