On Thursday, PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) announced its best-ever first-half results as rising global energy prices outpaced sluggish fuel demand while pandemic lockdowns in China slowed down industrial output.
Asia’s largest listed oil and gas company announced an interim profit of 82.39 billion yuan ($12 billion), up 55% year over year, while sales increased by 35% to 1.61 trillion yuan.
A 3.1% increase in oil and gas output to 845M BoE was also reported by PetroChina (PTR) in response to the government’s directive to improve the domestic energy supply.
The company reported that as it increased oil and gas exploration, its H1 capital spending increased by 25% to 92.31 billion yuan.
Cnooc, a smaller state-owned rival of PetroChina, increased its first-half profit by more than double to 71.9 billion yuan ($10.5 billion). Because it focuses primarily on offshore drilling and lacks sizable petrochemical and refining units, China National Offshore Oil Corp is more directly impacted by increased oil prices than PetroChina. The earnings reports for China’s three major oil corporations are completed on Sunday by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, the largest refiner in Asia.
Compared to its objective of 90-100 billion yuan for the entire year, Cnooc’s (OTCPK:CEOHF) H1 output increased 10% Y/Y to 304.8 million boe, while capital spending increased 15% to 41.6 billion yuan.
Recently, PetroChina (PTR) announced its intention to remove its ADS from the NYSE.
After several years of low pricing, global oil prices in the first half of the year averaged US$105 (RM469.56) per barrel, a 62% increase over the previous year. This was a boon to producers. PetroChina has made significant investments to maintain consistent oil production while increasing gas output to support the nation’s effort to access cleaner fuels.
Drilling earnings
PetroChina was able to survive increased import costs and a decline in gasoline consumption while pandemic lockdowns slowed down industrial operations thanks to improved drilling earnings. Recently, China’s policymakers have reduced hopes for hitting yearly economic growth goals, which is hurting domestic energy producers.
Featured Image : Megapixl © Mohammedsoliman4
Author Jowi Kwasu 
