PetroChina Co is planning a big share sale this year to raise as much as $5.6 billion in Shanghai for overseas acquisitions, increased oil drilling and refinery construction.

The company today overtook Royal Dutch Shell Plc as the world's second-largest oil company by market value, behind Exxon Mobil Corp, after announcing the plan to list on the Chinese mainland for the first time. As many as 4 billion shares will be sold, Beijing-based PetroChina said in a statement.

The oil producer is tapping an equity market that has doubled in value in the past six months, making it Asia's most expensive. PetroChina, whose Hong Kong shares have risen ninefold since an April 2000 initial public offering, plans to spend 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) developing the country's biggest oil discovery in almost half a century.

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"PetroChina is one of the best companies in China," said Agnes Deng, who helps manage US$3.5 billion at Standard Life Investments Asia in Hong Kong, including PetroChina shares. "It's got solid fundamentals." Chinese shares trade at 48 times earnings, compared with 17 times for Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, that's why "people get so excited by companies like PetroChina going back to an A-share listing."

PetroChina reported a fifth year of record profit at 142 billion yuan for 2006 as it produced more oil and gas than ever before to meet China's rising demand. The company plans to boost spending on exploration and development by 25 percent this year to 185.7 billion yuan, it said in March, exceeding the US$21 billion capital budget of Exxon Mobil.

The 4 billion shares that would be sold in Shanghai were worth 43 billion yuan based on their closing price in Hong Kong on June 18, prior to a market holiday. The sale would eclipse the 38.9 billion yuan (US$5 billion) raised by Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, China's second-biggest insurer, which listed on the Shanghai exchange on March 1.

PetroChina's plan will "establish a new financing platform" and provide funds required for development, the company, Asia's most profitable, said in the statement. The sale requires regulatory approval and an extraordinary general meeting on Auguest 10 for shareholders to vote on the plan, PetroChina said, without giving details on pricing.

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