...

Buffett says Berkshire has sold shares of PetroChina

Business Materials 20 October 2007 04:51 (UTC +04:00)

Billionaire Warren Buffett said his company had sold all shares of Chinese oil conglomerate PetroChina, a corporation that activist investors have urged him to divest in because of its ties to Sudan.

But the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway told FOX Business Network the decision to sell was based on the shares' valuation, and had nothing to do with the Sudan connection.

Berkshire made about $3.5 billion on a $500 million investment, Buffett said, but "we still sold it too soon."

Berkshire bought the PetroChina shares in 2003, when it traded for $140.78 a share, and the Omaha, Nebraska-based company's sales of PetroChina stock were first reported in July.

Last week PetroChina's stock reached new heights for the company. Shares traded in the US fell $12.98 - or 4.92 per cent - on Thursday to close at $250.72.

Rights groups have accused the Sudanese government of using its oil wealth to wage genocide. ( AP )

Latest

Latest