PetroChina reported on Monday its highest net profit for a first quarter as its revenues rose by 11% thanks to steady oil prices and higher domestic natural gas demand and production.
The Chinese state-held oil and gas giant booked $6.3 billion (45.681 billion Chinese yuan) in net profit for the first quarter of 2024, up by 4.7% year-over-year, as higher drilling and demand for natural gas more than offset weaker refining margins amid a sputtering recovery of the Chinese economy.
Revenues at PetroChina jumped by 10.9% to $112 billion (812 billion yuan) in the first quarter of the year.
The company attributed the increase in net profit to higher domestic sales of refined oil, natural gas, and chemical products and higher natural gas production.
PetroChina's oil and gas equivalent output averaged 463.7 million barrels in the first quarter, up by 2.6% compared with 452 million barrels for the same period of last year.
The oil, gas, and new energy business saw its profit from operations rise by 4.8% year-on-year, mainly due to higher natural gas sales.
PetroChina's unit oil and gas lifting costs were US$10.38 per barrel, down by 1.8% compared with US$10.57 for the same period of last year.
The average realized price for crude oil was US$75.41 per barrel in Q1 2024, a slight decline of 0.8% compared with US$75.98 per barrel for the same period of last year. The average domestic selling price of natural gas was US$9.38 per thousand cubic feet, relatively stable year over year.
Operating profit in the refining, chemicals, and new materials segment dropped by 4.2% due to lower profit margins of refined petroleum products, PetroChina said.
The volume of processed crude rose by 8.2%, gasoline output jumped by 10.7%, and jet fuel production surged by 62.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2023. But diesel PetroChina's output shrank by 2.2% as the Chinese property crisis continued to weigh on more industry-intensive products like diesel.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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