CNPC to Maintain Spending This Year, China Business News Says

By Wang Ying

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s biggest oil and gas producer, plans to invest more than 290 billion yuan ($42 billion) this year, little changed from 2008, the China Business News reported.

The parent company of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina Co. paid more than 85 billion yuan in windfall taxes last year, causing a decline in profit, the newspaper reported today, citing a company official it didn’t identify. The windfall taxes accounted for 62 percent of China National’s full-year earnings, the newspaper said.

China National may delay some non-production projects to ensure adequate investments for its “core business” this year, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net.