PetroChina profit up 30%

PetroChina, the world's second largest oil company by market value, announced Thursday its first-half net profit had risen 29.4 percent to 65.33 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) from a year earlier due to higher international crude prices.

　　The company's total revenue for the last six months rose 64.9 percent to 684.8 billion yuan ($100 billion) compared to the same period last year, the company said in the statement on its website.

　　"Stimulated by global economic recovery and a recovery in real demand, international crude oil prices rose sharply as compared with the same period of 2009," the statement said.

　　"PetoChina's surge in net profit was mostly due to its exploration and production businesses, "said Wang Yan, analyst with the Beijing-based Anbound &Information.

　　PetroChina's operating profit jumped 94.9 percent to 73.37 billion yuan ($10.79 billion). Operating profit from its exploration and production division, which accounts for 60 percent of the company's businesses, was 37.64 billion yuan ($5.54 billion) in the first half. Its crude oil output increased 1.7 percent from a year earlier to 424.7 million barrels, while its natural gas production rose 12.9 percent to 1.15 trillion cubic feet (32.56 billion cubic meters).

　　PetroChina is a subsidiary of State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which is listed in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

　　"I think PetroChina's net profit in the following quarters will be lower than the first two because domestic oil demand will drop as economy slows down," said Wang.

　　Analysts said PetroChina might benefit from international deals in the long term even if domestic oil demand shrinks in the second half.

　　But Sinopec said crude oil demand would keep increasing with the country's "relatively fast" economic growth in the second half.

　　Last Sunday, China's largest oil refiner, Sinopec, reported its first-half net profit rose 6.7 percent to 35.46 billion ($5.22 billion), much less than PetroChina due to the government's control on petrol product prices.

　　The country's offshore oil giant CNOOC reported earlier that its net profit soared 109.60 percent to 25.99 billion yuan ($3.83 billion) as a result of strong production growth and higher international oil prices.

　　Friday, PetroChina shares rose 0.68 percent to close at 10.31 yuan ($1.52) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and were up 0.71 percent to HK$8.45 ($1.09) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Source: Global Times