Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) catalyses the transfer of long chain fatty acids to carnitine for translocation across the mitochondrial inner membrane. The cDNAs of two isoforms of CPT I, termed the hepatic and muscle isoforms, have been cloned. Expression of the hepatic CPT I gene (L-CPT I) is subject to developmental, hormonal and tissue specific regulation. We have cloned the promoter of the L-CPT I gene from a rat genomic library. In the L-CPT I gene, there are two exons 5ʹ to the exon containing the ATG that initiates translation. Exon 1 and the 5ʹ end of exon 2 contain sequences that were not previously described in the rat L-CPT I cDNA. There is an alternatively spliced form of the L-CPT I mRNA in which exon 2 is skipped. The proximal promoter of the L-CPT I gene is extremely GC rich and does not contain a TATA box. There are several putative Sp1 binding sites near the transcriptional start site. A 190 base pair fragment of the promoter can efficiently drive transcription of luciferase and CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) reporter genes transiently transfected into HepG2 cells. Sequences in both the first intron and the promoter contribute to basal expression. Our results provide the foundation for further studies into the regulation of L-CPTI gene expression.