PetroChina H1 profit rises 4 pct

The net profits of PetroChina Company Limited, China's largest oil and gas producer, increased 4 percent year on year to 68.1 billion yuan (11.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2014, it said on Thursday.

During the period, business revenues also rose 4.8 percent to almost 1.2 trillion yuan, according to the company's half-year business report.

Its domestic business in the marketing segment and its international trading operations achieved an aggregate profit of 8.1 billion yuan, up nearly 138 percent year on year.

Describing the results as exceeding expectations, the company said that it has strengthened coordination of production and sales and enhanced inventory management through optimizing sales structure and focusing on profitable markets despite a slowdown in demand for refined oil.

The company's sales of high-margin products such as high-grade gasoline and aviation kerosene underwent rapid growth, according to the report.

It said PetroChina processed 500 million barrels of crude oil during the period, up 0.2 percent year on year. Meanwhile, output of refined oil products stood at 46 million tonnes, up 1.9 percent.