PetroChina posts interim profit of $8.2b

PetroChina reported an interim profit of 53.04 billion yuan ($8.18 billion) on Thursday, thanks to rising oil and gas prices and a recovery in Chinese fuel demand from the coronavirus pandemic slump. 

The figure compared to a net loss of 29.98 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. PetroChina's first-half revenue was up 29 per cent at 1.197 trillion yuan, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Oil and gas output dipped 1.7 per cent on-year to 819.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, with crude oil production down 6.8 per cent but gas output up 5.1 per cent.

Refinery throughput rose 6.7 per cent to about 606 million barrels and sales of gasoline, diesel and kerosene combined were up 4.9 per cent at 80.34 million tonnes.

Its domestic gas sales climbed 17.6 per cent to a record 96.25 billion cubic metres amid robust demand growth from industries and power plants under a consistent government push for less-polluting fuels.