PetroChina to Seek Greater Cooperation With Exxon, BP, Shell

PetroChina Co. (857), the country’s biggest oil and gas producer, will seek to increase cooperation with companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP Plc (BP/) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) as it looks to add overseas resources.

The Beijing-based company will also seek to work with Eni SpA (ENI) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) as its makes expansion abroad a priority, Chairman Zhou Jiping told reporters today in Beijing. The cooperation could involve teaming up to make acquisitions or joint exploration activities, Mao Zefeng, the company’s Beijing-based spokesman said after the press conference.

PetroChina and its state-owned parent China National Petroleum Corp. have announced plans to spend about $7 billion in the past six months on assets from Mozambique to Australia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Zhou was appointed as chairman in April after Jiang Jiemin was promoted to the minister of China’s state-owned enterprises supervisor.

The publicly traded unit plans to invest at least $60 billion this decade in global oil and natural gas assets to increase the share of overseas output to half of its total, former Chairman Jiang Jiemin said in 2010.

PetroChina fell 2.2 percent to HK$9:50 as of 11:59 am in Hong Kong. The stock has dropped 13 percent this year, compared with a 1 percent gain at the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index.