Size Isn't Everything for PetroChina
Precious few state-owned firms sell noncore operations and create more productive enterprises.
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Going on a diet and taking exercise can be a great route to fitness, but only if you make real changes rather than just lying to yourself. There's a lesson in that for PetroChina.
The state-backed giant on Wednesday posted its smallest half-year profit since a 2000 listing as falling oil prices, narrowing refining margins and the lower cost of domestic gas squeezed every major segment of its business. In line with almost all its peers at home and abroad, returns on PetroChina's capital just keep heading south, even as crude rebounds from its January lows.