PetroChina to sell majority stake in gas pipeline operator to sister firm Kunlun for $2.85 bn

Chinese state owned petroleum major PetroChina, the world's most valuable company, yesterday said that it will sell its 60 per cent stake in PetroChina Beijing Natural Gas Pipeline to Kunlun Energy Company for $2.85 billion.

The remaining 40-per cent stake of Beijing Natural Gas Pipeline is currently held by Beijing Gas Group, a unit of Beijing Enterprises Holdings Ltd.

Beijing Natural Gas Pipeline operates a natural gas pipeline, which transmits gas along the No 1 and No 2 pipelines of the Shaanxi-Beijing Natural Gas Pipeline. PetroChina Beijing Gas Pipeline owns 2,200km of the gas pipeline.

Kunlun Energy and PetroChina are both subsidiaries of state-run China National Petroleum Corporation.

PetroChina had said last month that it would divest its 60-per cent stake in the PetroChina Beijing Gas Pipeline through a bidding process. Although it did not name the other bidders, Kunlun Energy emerged as the winner, said PetroChina.

PetroChina, which in June 2010 overtook ExxonMobil to become the world's most valuable company in the Financial Times 'Global 500 List' 2010 of largest companies by market value, has been selling its non-core assets and focusing on exploration and production.