China’s largest oil and gas company, PetroChina 601857, 601857, reported on Tuesday a 5.4% decline in first-half net income versus a year-ago’s record, because of lower oil prices and weaker fuel sales.
Net profit came in at 84 billion yuan ($11.7 billion), down from 88.8 billion yuan in the same period last year, while revenue fell 6.7% to 1.45 trillion yuan, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

PetroChina, China’s second-largest refiner, posted 0.1% growth in crude throughput for the first half to 694.3 million barrels, or 3.84 million barrels per day (bpd).

Total sales volume of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel for the period fell 1.5% to 77.83 million metric tons, with gasoline leading the decline down 5%, and diesel down 2.4%.

Sales of aviation fuel rose 12.4% to 11.5 million tons.

“The domestic refined oil market continues to face competitio.n from alternative energy, while natural gas consumption remained broadly stable,” the company said.

Natural gas sales grew 2.9% to 151.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) with domestic sales up 4.2% at 119.8 bcm.

Refueling of liquefied natural gas, a replacement for diesel fuel, expanded 58.9% year-on-year, the company said.

Crude oil output rose 0.3% year-on-year to 476.4 million barrels, or 2.63 million bpd.
Domestic natural gas output rose 4.7% to 2,602.6 billion cubic feet, while overseas production fell 16.8% to 81 billion cubic feet.

Output of chemical products totaled 19.97 million tons, up 4.9% year on year, while that of new materials jumped 55% at 1.665 million tons.

For the second-half, PetroChina expects Chinese oil demand to continue facing competition from alternative energy, while natural gas demand will recover and grow rapidly.

Its Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 0.67% at HK$ 7.43 on Tuesday and are up 21.6% so far this year, while the Hang Seng Index HSI has risen 27.2%.
Source: Reuters