China beats India to PetroKazakhstan

If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. NJ Watson reports on CNPC's acquisition of PetroKazakhstan

AT THE third time of asking, China has bagged a major foreign oil asset. In late August, PetroKazakhstan said it had agreed to sell itself to a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The Canada-based company, which is Kazakhstan's second-largest foreign producer, after Chevron, with a crude output of around 150,000 barrels a day (b/d), put itself up for sale in June following a serious deterioration in its relations with the Kazakhstani government. The dispute, which included criminal charges against several executives over allegations of monopolistic operating practices, is widely regarded as a broader attempt by Kazakhstan to ease ou