PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer, posted a 1.9 per cent rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, citing growing sales of natural gas and refined fuel as well as improved margins in the refining and chemical sector.
The Chinese state oil giant's net income came in at CNY48.33 billion ($7.07 billion), up from CNY47.45 billion a year earlier, a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed. Revenue fell 2.2 per cent to CNY736.4 billion.
Sinopec, the world's largest refiner by capacity, and CNOOC, China's major offshore oil producer, also reported higher net profits this week.
PetroChina's domestic oil production between January and March was unchanged from a year earlier at 197.9 million barrels, or 2.2 million barrels per day, while gas output rose 2.4 per cent to 1,352.6 billion cubic feet.
However, overseas oil production was down 5.6 per cent to 39.9 million barrels in the period, though overseas gas output rose 4.1 per cent to 41.7 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas sales grew 3.5 per cent to 73.81 billion cubic metres, leading to a 40 per cent rise in operating profit to CNY18.87 billion.
As China's second-largest refiner by capacity, PetroChina processed 343 million barrels of oil in the first three months, or 3.81 million bpd, up 1.7 per cent year-on-year. Refining profit rose 57.7 per cent to CNY7.18 billion on higher margins.
PetroChina also lifted fuel sales, with volumes of gasoline, kerosene and diesel combined up 4.8 per cent to 36.78 million tonnes, including 28.02 million tonnes sold domestically.
Among the products, aviation fuel sales grew the fastest with a 23 per cent year-on-year increase. The group achieved 28 per cent year-on-year growth in operating profit for refined fuel sales, due to the increase in the domestic sales volume and improved margins in international trading.
Its ethylene production expanded 21.4 per cent on the year to 2.76 million tonnes. PetroChina's Hong Kong-listed stock has risen 42.96 per cent so far this year, outperforming a 1.88 per cent rise in the Hang Seng Index.
(Reporting by Sam Li and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Joe Bavier)
