CNPC, State Grid, CIC Announce Foreign Investments

PetroChina (PTR.NYSE, 601857.SH, 0857.HKG), a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp, announced that it would take a 20% stake in a Canadian natural and shale gas development owned by Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.NYSE, RDS.LSE), The Wall Street Journal reported, one of several recent acquisitions as Chinese state-owned companies take advantage of depressed valuations.

Neither firm disclosed terms of the agreement, but PetroChina said that by purchasing a stake in the Groundbirch site it hoped to gain shale gas experience from Shell. Separately, State Grid agreed to buy a 25% stake in REN-Redes Energeticas Nacionais SA (RENE.Euronext), a power and gas grid operator being sold by the Portuguese government as part of its European bailout agreement. China Investment Corp (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, also announced that it would purchase a minority stake in US asset manager EIG Global Energy Partners, which has around US$9.5 billion in assets under management. While the size of the stake is undisclosed, EIG’s CEO said in an interview that CIC bought less than 10% of the firm.