Stock Market

China’s incredible growth will take another step forward when its largest oil company, PetroChina (PTR) starts selling shares to mainland Chinese investors for the first time. The company will offer 4 billion shares at prices that should allow investors of all sizes to get in. PetroChina shares have been available in New York and Hong Kong for some time, but never in Shanghai. Many experts believe that the shares could double immediately, and if so, this would make the market value of PTR more than Exxon Mobil, which is currently the most valuable company in the world.

PTR’s growth in the last five years has allowed it to overtake BP, Shell, and Gazprom to quickly become the second largest oil company in the world. PTR also has plans to increase its spending this year from about $18 billion to $24 billion. The discovery of the Jidong Nanpu oilfield, the largest oil discovery in China in 50 years, may be one reason for the desire to raise capital, but according to an article in Reuters, the move is more about backing the Shanghai market and meeting the Chinese demand for shares.

It just seems a matter of time until the world’s largest country is home to the world’s largest company.

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