PetroChina: The People's IPO

Normally when a company chooses to do a share offering, the attendant dilution causes a dip in the share price. When you're listing in a market gripped by a speculative frenzy, however, the usual rules don't necessarily apply.

Yesterday, we saw PetroChina (NYSE: PTR  ) shares, which are listed on the Hong Kong exchange, leap following the announcement that the company plans to raise up to $6 billion by registering so-called A shares in Shanghai. Mainlanders, who are prohibited from buying HK-listed companies, will finally be able to grab a piece of what is now the second-largest oil company in the world.

That's right. The excitement surrounding this announcement was enough to drive PetroChina's market capitalization above that of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) (NYSE: RDS-B  ) .

PetroChina has planned some massive capital outlays for this year, budgeting even more than top dog ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , which is more than 75% larger by market cap. This is not necessarily unwise. Exxon would undoubtedly ramp its spending if it had a growth profile like that of PetroChina.

PetroChina finds itself in something of a paradoxical situation. In the midst of a white-hot economy, demand for oil and gas is going through the roof. At the same time, demand for everything else is leading to inflation and driving up the cost of capital expenditures. I don't see that inflation being contained without a big hit to the growth that's driving demand.

Neither situation is ideal. But if I had to guess, I think the company would choose today's high growth/inflation situation over the alternative. Given the long-term outlook for the country, though, I don't think PetroChina will have too much to fret about. It and CNOOC (NYSE: CEO  ) couldn't be much better-positioned to benefit from China's rise.

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Bill Mann, lead analyst for the Motley Fool Global Gains newsletter service, recently spent time in China, India, and Taiwan in search of market-beating investment opportunities. To find out which international stocks Bill is recommending, try out the service today with a 30-day free trial.

Fool contributor Toby Shute doesn't own shares in any company mentioned. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy means there's nothing to fret about.