China's Three Oil Giants Post Q1 Results   

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp., SH: 600028; HKEX: 386; NYSE: SNP; LSE: SNP) saw an operating revenue decrease by 31.2% year on year to RMB228.6 billion in the first quarter of 2009 under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Net profit increased 85.1% year on year to RMB11.2 billion. Earnings per share were RMB0.129.
   The company stated the net profit gain is driven by the government's new pricing mechanism for oil products, which is in line with the international crude prices, and steady rise in demand for chemical products both at home and abroad, as well as growing domestic demand for oil on the back of the government's economic stimulus package.
   The operating profit of the refining segment was RMB7.3 billion in the first quarter 2009, down 64% from a year earlier while for the chemical segment was RMB2.8 billion, up 80.7% year on year. Due to the significant drop in crude oil price, the operating profit of the exploration & production segment decreased 76.1% to RMB2.7 billion. And the marketing and distribution Segment saw substantial operating profit drop, being RMB3.77 billion.
   Sinopec Corp. produced 10.4 million tons of crude oil in Q1, up 0.61% over the previous year, and 1.98 billion cubic meters of natural gas, down 3.65% from a year earlier. The company processed 40.5 million tons of crude oil in the same period, down 3.27%, and produced 7.99 million tons of gasoline, up 15.32%; 15.14 million tons of diesel, down 8.8%; 2.18 million tons of kerosene, up 9.29%.
   In the same time, Sinopec Corp. manufactured 1.49 million tons of ethylene, down 12.22% year on year; 2.40 million tons of synthetic resins, down 3.3%; 198.3 thousand tons of synthetic rubber, down 12.33%; 314.9 thousand tons of synthetic fibers, down 11.27% and 361.7 thousand tons of urea, up 27.94%.

PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina, HKSE: 00857; NYSE: PTR; SH: 601857) posted RMB18.96 billion in net profit for Q1 2009 under IFRS, a year-on-year decrease of 35.3%. EPS was RMB0.10, down 37.5%. The operating revenue fell 30% to RMB181 billion.
   The decrease in net profit were adversely affected by a remarked decline in crude oil prices, weak demand for oil products and lower profit for refining business.
   PetroChina produced 206 million barrels of crude oil, a year-on-year decrease of 5.7%, and 523.4 billion cubic feet of marketable natural gas, up 7.9% from the previous year.
   Meanwhile, PetroChina processed 185 million barrels of crude oil for Q1, a decrease of 14.6% from the same period of 2008, and produced 16.36 million tons of gasoline, diesel and kerosene in total, showing an annual decrease of 13.5%. The company manufactured 663 thousand tons of ethylene, down 6.5% from a year earlier.

CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 0883) announces its total daily net production of 566 860 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) for the first quarter of 2009, representing an increase of 15.0% year-on-year.
   Benefiting from the production contribution of Platform B of Penglai 19-3 Phase II, Xijiang 23-1 and Wenchang oilfields, the company's production of crude oil and liquids amounted to 468 535 barrels per day, up 19.7% from a year earlier.
   In the first quarter of 2009, the company's net gas production reached 563 million cubic feet per day. The net production overseas increased by 30.9% year-on-year to 31 481 barrels per day, mainly attributable to production from Northwest Shelf Project in Australia and OML 130 in Nigeria.
   Affected by the relatively low oil price for Q1, the average realized oil price annually decreased 53.2% to US$41.56 per barrel. The average realized gas price was US$3.89 per thousand cubic feet, up 6.6%.
   The total unaudited revenue decreased 41.9% year-on-year to RMB13.95 billion for Q1, due to lower oil price. Net profit fell 64% to RMB6.44 billion.