Foes Help Restrain PetroChina’s IPO

Labor unions and human rights activists declared victory Thursday as shares of the controversial Chinese oil company PetroChina (PTR) ended flat on their first day of U.S. trading.

The AFL-CIO helped quash interest in the initial public offering by lobbying institutional investors and setting up a Web site to publicize supposed risks involving the deal, including Chinese government interference.

Faced with such resistance, the government over the weekend postponed plans to sell shares in SinoPec, China’s second-largest oil company, and Baoshan, a big iron and steel producer.

PetroChina’s American depositary receipts barely budged from the initial price, closing unchanged at $16.44 on the NYSE.

The company, controlled by the government in Beijing, sold a 10% stake for $2.9 billion--less than half the amount originally expected.