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Top Chinese oil giant sees profits fall 11.6 percent
( 2002-01-21 10:33 ) (1 )

The China National Petroleum Corporation, the nation's largest oil company, said its profits dropped to 53 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion) last year due to sliding oil prices on the international market.

The firm's profits represented a quarter of total profits of State oil enterprises in 2000 but the company said last year's profits were 11.6 per cent lower after the price of oil plummeted by over a third last year.

A company statement that turnover reached 340 billion yuan (US$41.1 billion) last year, compared to 404 billion yuan (US$48.9 billion) in 2000.

The statement came on the heels of an announcement by rival China Petrochemical Corporation, the nation's second-largest oil company, which said last month its profits for 2001 dropped by a third to 12.8 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion). The profit plunge was also attributed to the oil-price drop and the expense of laying off 200,000 employees.

Of China's 40 industrial sectors, the oil and petrochemical industry registered the biggest decline in profit last year.

The China National Petroleum Corporation said its oil production remained flat last year at 106.5 million tons, while gas production increased by 9.5 per cent to 20.6 billion cubic metres.

The company has pinned high hopes on its gas industry becoming its new profit pump as the output of its oilfields is dwindling.

The firm has said its gas production is expected to increase by over 10 per cent a year to 33 billion cubic metres by 2005.

The statement said its production in overseas oil and gas fields also gathered steam last year, fueling the central government's ambition of seeking more foreign oil reserves to cut China's oil shortage.

Last year, the company produced 16.2 million tons of crude oil, and 930 million cubic metres of natural gas in overseas reserves in which it enjoys a working interest. Overseas production, mostly in North Africa, the Middle East and South America, increased by some 20 per cent and contributed over US$100 million to company profits.

The company said it processed 86.9 million tons of oil last year, a slight increase over the level in 2000.

The firm said it has been preparing to build several gas pipelines to cash in on its gas reserves. These include the long-awaited west-east gas pipeline, which will travel 4,000 kilometres from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest to East China's Shanghai.

The statement did not give details on negotiations with foreign companies to work together on the US$14.5 billion project but the company said it was ready to make a start on the project.