Canadian big oil hit by China corruption scandals

CNPC Continues to Be Hit by Scandal as Two More Executives Fall

The detained executives were veterans of the oil giant's overseas businesses, and one was the son of a former minister

Caixin Online


(Beijing) -- Already simmering amid a series of corruption scandals, oil giant China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) is again in the spotlight as two more executives in the company's overseas operations are being investigated.

The two who were detained were Song Yiwu, deputy general manager of China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp. (CNODC), and Li Zhiming, head of CNPC's Canadian operation, several sources said.

Song was detained in early July, the sources said, and Li was arrested in late June. This follows a probe into Bo Qiliang, the general manager of CNODC and deputy general manager of PetroChina, that was launched in mid-May.

Both Song and Li are veterans of CNPC's overseas businesses. Song, the son of former oil minister Song Zhenming, has been CNODC's deputy general manager since 2004 and led many important negotiations for CNPC's overseas deals.

In August 2009, PetroChina International Investment Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of CNPC's listed arm, PetroChina, signed an agreement with Canadian oil sands company Athabasca Oil Corp. to purchase the latter's two large oil sands projects, the MacKay River site and the Dover project, for about 22.5 billion yuan, or CA$ 3.9 billion.

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