China yesterday stepped up its worldwide hunt for gas to keep its 1.3 billion population warm.
PetroChina, the Hong Kong-listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, paid London-listed mining giant BHP Billiton $1.63bn (£1.01bn) for stakes in two Australian projects, making this PetroChina's biggest investment Down Under for two years.
Billiton wanted to quit its minority shareholdings of 8 per cent and 20 per cent because development costs were rising.
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