The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has completed
the transfer of a 33-percent shareholding in Canada-registered
PetroKazakhstan Inc (PK) to a Kazakhstan state oil company.
A CNPC spokesman said yesterday that?the firm's subsidiary,
CNPCI, had signed the transfer agreement with KazMunaiGaz on July
5.
The two parties are now negotiating on the future operation and
development of PK, according to the spokesman with CNPC's foreign
affairs department.
CNPC's planned acquisition of PK through CNPCI was granted an
unconditional final order by a court in Canada last October. The
deal, worth US$4.18 billion, is the largest overseas takeover
transaction ever made by a Chinese company.
CNPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding the same month with
KazMunaiGas, under which KazMunaiGas would acquire a PK
shareholding large enough to gain strategic control over the
development of the country's mineral resources, together with the
right of joint management over Kazakhstan's Shymkent refinery and
its products.
PK is expected to reach its forecast oil production of 10
million tons this year, the spokesman said.
PK Inc, an international energy company registered in Canada,
has assets that include 12 oilfields and exploration licenses in
five blocks in Kazakhstan and an annual production of crude oil
that exceeds 7 million tons.
(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2006)