Three executives at key PetroChina supplier missing, one dead

THE travails of companies working for oil giant PetroChina and its parent China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) took another twist yesterday when one supplier said it had been unable to contact three executives, including its chairman, since they disappeared weeks ago.

Sichuan Star Cable also said another executive died this week. Caixin, an influential Chinese finan- cial magazine, said He Yuying, 44, plunged to her death from a building in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, on Monday night.

The company, which mainly supplies cables to the oil and gas and power industries, first announced chairman Li Guangyuan’s disappearance on July 26.

It did not give a reason but said it issued that statement in response to local media reports that Mr Li was under official investigation.

Star Cable’s largest customer is CNPC, itself at the centre of a major graft probe, in which five former senior executives at CNPC and PetroChina are being investigated.

A Star Cable official who only gave her surname as Yin said the company was still unable to reach Mr Li, who is also the Shanghai-listed firm’s controlling shareholder.

Nor had the company been able to reach MD Shen Ludong and chief financial officer Yang Ping since they disappeared late last month, Ms Yin said from the firm’s headquarters in Sichuan province.

She declined to say whether the company was under investigation or not. The company was operating normally as it had appointed executives to fill the vacant MD and chief financial officer posts.

He Yuying was a director and a deputy GM in charge of sales, the company said. Ms Yin said He’s family had notified the company about her death but did not provide a reason. His family could not be reached for comment.

The Caixin magazine gave no source for its report. A Chengdu police official said he was “aware of the death of He Yuying” but declined further comment.

One third of Star Cable’s first half revenue came from CNPC, according to its interim report for the period. China’s government has said it is investigating the five former executives at CNPC and PetroChina, including a former chairman of both companies, for “serious discipline violations“— shorthand used to describe graft.

The investigation has sparked a sell-off in shares of firms with close ties to PetroChina.