PetroChina on Thursday reported its biggest quarterly profit in seven years, citing rising oil and gas prices and a recovery in Chinese fuel demand from last year's deep coronavirus slump.
Asia's biggest oil and gas producer swung to a 27.7 billion yuan ($4.28 billion) first-quarter net profit, having posted a loss in the same period last year, and announced that it is setting up a new investment vehicle with a focus on strategic assets and low-carbon projects.
The new firm, CNPC Kunlun Capital Company, is 51 per cent owned by PetroChina parent China National Petroleum Corp, 29 per cent by PetroChina and 20 per cent by CNPC Capital, with registered capital of 10 billion yuan.
PetroChina's first-quarter revenue was up 8.4 per cent at 551.9 billon yuan, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Oil and gas output grew 0.8 per cent to 417.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, with crude oil production down 4.9 per cent while gas output was up 8 per cent at 1.17 trillion cubic feet.
Refinery throughput rose 7.8 per cent to about 3.31 million barrels per day, reversing close to a 10 per cent drop a year earlier.
Its domestic gas sales rallied nearly 15 per cent and refined fuel surged 20.9 per cent as Chinese fuel demand rebounded in tandem with robust economic growth.
