BEIJING, May 14 (Reuters) - PetroChina's 601857.SS senior oil products trader Wang Lei has become the chief of the state firm's natural gas trading, as the oil major is set to expand its business of cleaner burning fuel as part of Beijing's anti-smog campaign.
Wang Lei, previously head of products trading for Chinaoil, the trading arm of PetroChina, told Reuters he was appointed as the global gas team leader "very recently", and did not provide further details.
PetroChina, which operates three major receiving facilities of liquefied natural gas along China's east coast and has long-term supply contracts with Qatar and Australia, is poised to expand its gas trading in the coming years.
Chinaoil has about 15 gas traders globally, including operations in Beijing, Singapore and Houston.
PetroChina is also among the first Chinese firms to have lined up import deals with the United States. It agreed early this year to buy about 1.2 million tonnes a year of LNG under two agreements with Cheniere Energy Inc. LNG.A