By Chen Aizhu
(Reuters) -Asia’s largest oil and gas producer PetroChina Co Ltd reported 21% year-on-year growth in third-quarter net profit that hit a record high, as increased production and improving domestic fuel demand offset lower realised oil and gas prices.
Net profit rose to 46.38 billion yuan ($6.3 billion), while revenue fell 4.6% to 802 billion yuan, the company said in a stock filing on Monday.
PetroChina’s income compared with 17.86 billion yuan at top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp and 33.88 billion yuan at offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd for the same three months.
Its crude oil output between January and September rose 4.3% versus a year earlier to 706 million barrels, including 22% growth in overseas production to 122 million barrels, PetroChina said, without specifying which countries contributed to the growth.
Natural gas output was up 6.1% to 3,656.6 billion cubic feet.
“(The) company seized the opportune timing of recovery in Chinese macro economy and rebounds in oil and gas markets,” PetroChina said.
The company reported a realised oil price of $75.30 a barrel during the nine-month period, down 21% on last year, as global oil prices fell following a spike prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Domestic gas prices fell 4.8% to $8.81 per thousand cubic feet.
Crude oil processing at PetroChina, China’s second-largest refiner after Sinopec Corp, jumped 16.5% in the first nine months to 1,044 million barrels, or 3.82 million barrels per day, in line with other national refiners that stepped up runs to meet recovering domestic fuel demand as well as cashing in on the lucrative export business.
Total sales of gasoline, diesel and jet kerosene rose 13.4% on year at 125.6 million tons, including domestic sales at 93 million tons, which represented a 17% growth year-on-year.
Though smallest among the three refined products, kerosene led the growth with sales during the nine months surging nearly 50% on the year to 14.3 million tons, PetroChina said.
Capital spending amounted to 174 billion yuan between January and September, 10% higher than the year-earlier level.
Apart from heavy spending on exploring for natural gas and oil, the company has continued to invest in downstream and petrochemical operations, launching construction of a $3 billion petrochemical complex in the western region of Xinjiang in September.
Its Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 3.4% at HK$5.16 on Monday before the earnings release. They have risen 44.5% year-to-date, versus a 12% fall in the Hang Seng index.
($1 = 7.3184 Chinese yuan renminbi
(Reporting by Andrew Hayley in Beijing and Chen Aizhu in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely, Miral Fahmy and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
