Nothing about PetroChina is small. It is China’s biggest company by market value, one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil and now the focal point of the biggest Chinese corruption investigation in years.
Yet in one crucial area – profitability – PetroChina has not achieved the heights expected from it. Analysts say a graft investigation, though painful and embarrassing, could be exactly what is needed to elevate China’s leading oil company to the global top tier not just in size but also in performance.
Over the past month, Chinese authorities have detained four senior PetroChina executives and its former chairman. Several bosses of smaller oil and gas companies that do business with PetroChina have also been caught in the dragnet.