PetroChina became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company in 2007, overtaking General Electric.
PetroChina reached the top market-capitalization ranking after its Shanghai stock-market listing in November 2007. Its shares surged on the first trading day, giving the company a headline valuation above established global giants such as General Electric and ExxonMobil.
PetroChina is the publicly listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation, one of China’s major state-owned energy groups. Its activities include exploration, production, refining, transportation, and sales of oil and natural gas.
The episode illustrates why market-cap rankings can move sharply when a company lists new shares or when investor enthusiasm changes. PetroChina’s record valuation was based partly on its Shanghai-listed shares, whose price differed from the price of its Hong Kong-listed shares.