Petrochina Won Environmental Clearance

PetroChina, Asia's top oil and gas company, has won environmental clearance for its oil and petrochemical projects to be funded by a planned domestic stock offering, the country's environment watchdog said.

Six projects, including a 200,000 barrel per day refinery and one million tone per year ethylene complex in the remote northwestern region of Xinjiang, would be financed by the domestic share issue.

PetroChina is expected to raise an estimated $5-$6 billion in a Shanghai listing, possibly in November, sources have said.

The proceeds would also go toward producing crude at Daqing and Changing oilfields, developing Jidong Nanpu field -- the company's latest big oil discovery -- works to double ethylene capacity at Daqing in northeast China, and a refined fuel pipeline linking Lanzhou in the northwest to Changsha in central China.