China National Petroleum Wants to Buy PetroKazakhstan

China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) (China), oil company, is interested in the purchase of PetroKazakhstan (Calgary, Canada). CNPC offered USD 4.18 bil for a 100% stake in the firm. This is the largest Chinese acquisition abroad. The board of the directors of PetroKazakhstan, which is the third largest oil producer in Kazakhstan, recommended to accept the offer to shareholders. CNPC offers USD 55 per share. CNPC got over competitors from India with its offer. The oil giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (India) was also interested in PetroKazakhstan. This firm together with the billionaire Mr. Laksmi Mittal offered USD 3.6 bil for the company, according to the agency AP. In Kazakhstan, there are 3.3% of global oil reserves, nearly 40 bil bbl of oil. PetroKazakhstan extracts 151 mil bbl of oil/d, 12% of total daily exploitation in Kazakhstan. Demand for oil in china raised by 33% in 2004 compared to 2003.