Top oil firm officials face corruption probe

HONG KONG: Chinese authorities broadened a corruption investigation at the country’s biggest oil company, adding three more top officials to the probe.
The officials at the PetroChina subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp. are being investigated for “serious discipline violations,” the Cabinet’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a brief statement.
“Discipline violations” is often shorthand in official Chinese announcements for allegations of corruption by a government official or manager of a state company.
The announcement comes a day after the Chinese government said a CNPC executive was being investigated for the same reason.
PetroChina said the three being investigated are Li Hualin and Ran Xinquan, both vice presidents, and Chief Geologist Wang Daofu.
They have all resigned for personal reasons, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
CNPC is the parent company of PetroChina Ltd., one of the world’s biggest oil producers by market capitalization. The government said Monday that a CNPC vice president, Wang Yongchung, who also is general manager of the subsidiary that operates China’s biggest oil field, Daqing, is being investigated.
In a separate case, a general manager at state-owned phone company China Mobile was detained earlier this month.
A government announcement said he faced an investigation of suspected discipline violations.
China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, has pledged to crack down on corruption and government waste, and vowed to target both low- and senior-level officials.
On Monday, a high-profile corruption trial wrapped up for Bo Xilai, former Communist Party Secretary of the major city of Chongqing.