PetroChina, the public division of China’s state giant CNPC, has quietly become the third-largest oil and gas company globally, with a market cap exceeding Chevron’s since the start of this year; quietly, because it tends to stay out of most investors’ radars, for a number of reasons. Yet now some analysts believe it is the best time to start buying the Chinese company. The average market cap of PetroChina since the start of the year, according to Bloomberg , has come in at US$232 billion, versus US$230 billion for Chevron. Its Hong Kong-listed shares trade at a 33-percent discount to the company’s book value. This compares with a 68-premium to book value for Exxon’s stock and a 1.34x premium to book value for Shell. All this makes PetroChina look like a steal, especially against the background of its international growth and plans to streamline its operations. Most recently, PetroChina […]