China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is one of the largest state owned enterprises in China and needs to separate the exploration, refining and marketing resources from the oil field services and supply resources as well as the company's resources devoted to social services. The case describes the issues surrounding the initial public offering of PetroChina, a subsidiary of CNPC, including the international, national and competitive context in which CNPC found itself prior to the IPO, and the strategy needed to ensure that the subsidiary will be viable in an increasingly competitive international oil industry.
