Kazakhstan Bought Back its 33% Stake From China's CNPC

Kazakhstan's national oil company bought from China's largest oil company CNPC a 33 percent share in a major oil producer operating in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

KazMunaiGaz said in a statement that it paid $55 a share for the stake in Canada-based PetroKazakhstan.

China National Petroleum Corp. took over PetroKazakhstan last year for $4.2 billion. The takeover was China's biggest foreign acquisition and the latest in a string of efforts by Beijing to secure foreign energy supplies for its booming economy.

The Kazakh government approved the takeover but immediately signaled its intention to buy part of the Calgary, Alberta-based company that has all of its energy assets in Kazakhstan.

The company also said that under another deal signed with CNPC it acquired a 50 percent share in Valsera Holding BV, an intermediate holding company for PetroKazakhstan.

KazMunaiGaz President Uzakbai Karabalin said the deal would give the government control over the Shymkent oil refinery, which is the most modern of the country's three refineries.