CNOOC H1 profit plummets 55pc
Hong Kong, August 26, 2009
China's largest listed offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC said Wednesday that its first-half net profit fell 55 per cent on the back of lower oil prices.
The China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) said in a statement that its net profit for the six months ending June 30 dropped to 12.40 billion yuan ($1.82 billion), from 27.54 billion yuan a year earlier.
Its revenue fell 42 per cent to 40.65 billion yuan from 70.04 billion yuan.
CNOOC said the average selling price of its crude oil was $49.35 a barrel in the first half of this year, down 52 per cent from $102.50 last year.
However, the firm's chairman Fu Chengyu said he was confident that business would get back on track due to a rebound in oil prices and the strong growth momentum in China.
"The international oil price is a mirror of the economic situation. Within the first half of the year, we see that the oil price, which plunged from a high level previously, has stabilised and increased significantly," he said.
Fu said the company will continue to increase exploration efforts -- especially in crude oil exploration in offshore China -- and commence production of its news oil and gas fields. – Reuters