PetroChina to sell gas grid stake as part of energy sector reforms

Beijing

PETROCHINA is discussing selling a stake in domestic gas pipelines worth an estimated US$47 billion in total, sources told Reuters, in a move seen as a prelude to Beijing's plans to break the state giant's near monopoly and boost spending on energy infrastructure.

The sale could attract domestic interest from Chinese institutions, asset managers and private equity investors, sources said.

PetroChina produces two-thirds of China's natural gas and controls nearly 80 per cent of the country's patchy 90,000-kilometre gas pipelines, a bottlenecked grid that has preven…