The Chinese Communist Party's drive against corruption moved into the powerful and politically delicate oil sector this week, as the authorities announced that four executives of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation were under investigation.
On Tuesday, the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China said on its Web site that three oil executives — Li Hualin, a deputy general manager of China National Petroleum; Ran Xinquan, a vice president of PetroChina, the company's listed unit; and Wang Daofu, the chief geologist of PetroChina — were "suspected of grave violations of discipline and are currently undergoing investigation," by an anti-corruption agency. PetroChina also announced that the three men were under investigation and had resigned "due to personal reasons."
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A day earlier, authorities revealed an investigation into a deputy general manager of China National Petroleum, Wang Yongchun, for suspected "disciplinary violations," generally considered to be corruption, embezzlement or taking bribes.