PetroChina Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Company

Wildly successful IPO gives China 5 of world's top 10 companies
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 5, 2007 8:14 AM CST
PetroChina Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Company
FILE--In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, workers walk beside oil pipelines at PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company refinery in Dushanzi in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in this Saturday, July 29, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wang Chengyun, FILE)   (Associated Press)

In its first day of trading, PetroChina Co. became the world’s most valuable company, hitting $1 trillion in market capitalization after shares nearly tripled to 43.96 yuan from an IPO of 16.7 yuan. It’s now worth more than the entire Russian stock market. Some analysts interpreted the valuation as  “an indication of China coming of age,” Bloomberg reports. For others, it’s a sign of an unsustainable market bubble.

PetroChina is now worth more than Exxon Mobil and General Electric combined, even though Petro has just a quarter of Exxon’s revenue, and uncertain growth potential. One Hong Kong analyst said Petro’s production would be static for three to four years, while government-controlled gas prices would limit earnings. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold its Petro stake, saying prices were rising too fast. (More PetroChina stories.)

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