Mutual fund company Fidelity Investments recently sold off most of its U.S. holdings in PetroChina. The significance of that action lies in the following fact, which the Financial Times points out:
China National Petroleum Corp, PetroChina's state-owned parent company and the country's largest oil and gas enterprise, owns the largest single share in the consortium that dominates Sudan's oil industry, in partnership with other foreign investors.
Investors in holding company Berkshire Hathaway, on the other hand, have voted not to divest shares of PetroChina. A commentary posted on Berkshire Hathaway's Web site states that the company does not believe "divesting our PetroChina holdings would in any way have a beneficial effect on Sudanese behavior" and the ongoing atrocities occurring in that country.
Links:
"Darfur Activists Claim Fidelity Success" (Financial Times)
"Should Berkshire Divest PetroChina?" (The Motley Fool)
"Commentary as to Berkshire's Holdings in PetroChina Company Limited" (Berkshire Hathaway)
Previously: Visualizing Genocide
Photo: Sudan Divestment Rally in New York City, 3/10/07, by Genocide Intervention Network.
