PetroChina puts sprawling pipeline assets into $12b firm

Chinese energy giant PetroChina Co is putting a sprawl of pipeline operations into a single company with a registered capital of 80 billion yuan ($12.4 billion), saying it wants to improve efficiency and boost the value of the businesses.

Assets that were spread across three units are being consolidated into PetroChina Pipelines Co, PetroChina said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. PetroChina will own 72.26 percent of that company when the transaction closes on Dec 31, it said.

The government is looking to spin off oil and gas pipelines from its energy companies into independent businesses as part of overhaul of State-owned industries. PetroChina and its parent, China National Petroleum Corp, are seeking to complete asset sales before the end of the year to help meet government-set annual profit goals, people familiar with the matter said.