(Reuters) – PetroChina on Friday reported a 41% rise in first-quarter net income to 39.1 billion yuan ($5.94 billion), the most since September 2020, thanks to stronger oil and gas prices but weakening refining business started to weigh.
Asia’s biggest oil and gas producer said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its oil and gas output grew 3.3% to 431 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Its refinery throughput, China’s second-largest after Sinopec Corp, gained 1.5% to 302.5 million barrels, or 3.36 million barrels per day (bpd), slowing from the 7.8% growth recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
Total domestic fuel sales gained 3% year on year, but sales of gasoline slipped 2.4% and aviation fuel was down 22%.
This is because China’s fuel demand has started to weaken significantly since March as global crude oil prices that touched 14-year highs pinched margins and COVID-19 control measures hurt oil consumption.
($1 = 6.5835 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Chen Aizhu)
