PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, announced on Sunday it would expect the A-share listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange beginning on November 5.

The oil giant said it would start preliminary price inquiries for its initial public offering from October 22 to 24 to set its IPO price range.

The company said the country’s securities watchdog has approved to sell up to four billion shares on the Shanghai bourse.

It expected to raise 37.77 billion yuan (about US$5 billion) from the IPO, according to the company's prospectus filed to the securities watchdog.

Its IPO price is scheduled to be announced on October 30 following subscriptions on October 25 and 26.

Experts said that the soaring oil prices in the international market could drive up PetroChina's offering prices.

PetroChina said it would use 6.84 billion yuan and 5.93 billion yuan respectively to boost production capacity at its Changqing and Daqing oil fields. A total of 1.5 billion yuan will be used to build production facilities at Jidong field, the country's biggest.

It also plans to invest 17.5 billion yuan in upgrading its Dushanzi oil refinery and ethylene facilities and 6 billion yuan in expanding an ethylene plant in Daqing, in northeast China.

Daqing, one of China's largest oil fields, produced more than 43 million tons of crude oil last year, accounting for almost 25 percent of the nation's total. Changqing produced more than 10.5 million tons of oil in 2006.

Jidong Nanpu Oilfield, the largest oil discovery by PetroChina in four decades, will have an annual output of 10 million tons by 2012, according to the company's plan.

Citic Securities Co., UBS Securities Co. and China International Capital Corp are arranging the share issue.

PetroChina began trading in Hong Kong and its American Depository Receipts were listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2000.

PetroChina's A-share listing comes after the return of such red-chips as China COSCO Holdings, China Construction Bank and China Shenhua Energy Company, the country's largest coal producer.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2007)