Higher output fuels PetroChina past Exxon
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
March 30, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A big shift is happening in Big Oil: an American giant now ranks behind a Chinese upstart.
Exxon Mobil is no longer the world's biggest publicly traded producer of oil. For the first time, that distinction belongs to PetroChina. The Chinese company was created by the Chinese government to secure more oil for that nation's booming economy.
PetroChina yesterday announced it pumped 2.4 million barrels a day last year, surpassing Exxon by 100,000. The company has grown rapidly over the last decade by squeezing more from China's aging oil fields and outspending Western companies to acquire more petroleum reserves in places like Canada, Iraq and Qatar.
The company's production increased 3.3 percent in 2011 while Exxon's fell 5 percent. Exxon's oil output also fell behind Rosneft, the Russian energy company.
However, PetroChina yesterday posted a disappointing 26 percent drop in fourth-quarter net earnings as rising refining losses offset gains in the lucrative upstream business.
China's largest oil producer earned 29.55 billion yuan (US$4.69 billion) in the final quarter of last year, down from 39.9 billion yuan a year earlier, according to calculations based on its annual results released yesterday.
For the full year, net profit fell 5 percent to 133 billion yuan, missing a mean estimate of 138 billion yuan of 20 analysts polled by Bloomberg News. Turnover rose 36.7 percent to 2 trillion yuan.
The upstream exploration and production segment posted an operating profit of 219.5 billion yuan last year, up 42.8 percent, on higher crude oil prices. Its oil and gas output rose 4.7 percent to 1.29 billion barrels of oil equivalent last year.
However, its refining business posted an operating loss of 60.1 billion yuan last year, larger than the 35.8 billion yuan refining loss reported by rival Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner. Government control on fuel prices means refiners cannot freely pass on increasing crude rates to customers.
Exxon Mobil is no longer the world's biggest publicly traded producer of oil. For the first time, that distinction belongs to PetroChina. The Chinese company was created by the Chinese government to secure more oil for that nation's booming economy.
PetroChina yesterday announced it pumped 2.4 million barrels a day last year, surpassing Exxon by 100,000. The company has grown rapidly over the last decade by squeezing more from China's aging oil fields and outspending Western companies to acquire more petroleum reserves in places like Canada, Iraq and Qatar.
The company's production increased 3.3 percent in 2011 while Exxon's fell 5 percent. Exxon's oil output also fell behind Rosneft, the Russian energy company.
However, PetroChina yesterday posted a disappointing 26 percent drop in fourth-quarter net earnings as rising refining losses offset gains in the lucrative upstream business.
China's largest oil producer earned 29.55 billion yuan (US$4.69 billion) in the final quarter of last year, down from 39.9 billion yuan a year earlier, according to calculations based on its annual results released yesterday.
For the full year, net profit fell 5 percent to 133 billion yuan, missing a mean estimate of 138 billion yuan of 20 analysts polled by Bloomberg News. Turnover rose 36.7 percent to 2 trillion yuan.
The upstream exploration and production segment posted an operating profit of 219.5 billion yuan last year, up 42.8 percent, on higher crude oil prices. Its oil and gas output rose 4.7 percent to 1.29 billion barrels of oil equivalent last year.
However, its refining business posted an operating loss of 60.1 billion yuan last year, larger than the 35.8 billion yuan refining loss reported by rival Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner. Government control on fuel prices means refiners cannot freely pass on increasing crude rates to customers.
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