Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Chinese oil and gas giant PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at PetroChina's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

PetroChina facts

Headquarters (founded)

Beijing (1988)

Market Cap

$222.2 billion

Industry

Integrated oil and gas

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$192.5 billion

Management

Chairman/General Manager Jiemin Jiang

CFO Mingchun Zhou

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

15%

Cash/Debt

$19.46 billion / $40.5 billion

Dividend Yield

3.4%

Competitors

CNOOC (NYSE: CEO)

Sinopec (NYSE: SNP)

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)

Chevron (NYSE: CVX)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 1,768 members who have rated PetroChina believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include AmericanGenius and jdr393.

This past summer, CAPS member AmericanGenius tapped PetroChina as a rather multifunctional selection: "Large cap, energy, China, commodity, and above all, ALGAE! I want exposure to all of the above, why not get it here in this one stop shop?"

As one of only two major oil and gas providers in China, PetroChina (Sinopec being the other) remains one of our community's favorite ways to cash in on the country's seemingly insatiable energy appetite. Thanks to its massive scale and close relationship with the Chinese government, PetroChina has the ability to tap regions that are typically difficult to access. Additionally, with a price-to-cash flow of just 5.2 -- representing a discount to Big Oil rivals CNOOC (8), Exxon (7.5), and Chevron (5.7) -- PetroChina seems like a relatively inexpensive bet, as well.

CAPS member jdr393 nicely sums up the bull case:

As disposable income increases, Chinese citizens will attain more independent forms of transportation. In addition, China's industrialization will spread to more rural areas of its country, only expanding its need for fuel. [PetroChina] will once again hold the record market cap by 2012.

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