PetroChina has first ever quarterly loss; Sinopec profits up

The ongoing oil price slump has hit PetroChina, the nation’s largest oil and gas producer, much harder than fellow state-backed China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec), whose bigger and more efficient refining and chemicals operations has saved it from plunging into a loss. The South China Morning Post reports PetroChina posted late a net loss of 13.78 billion yuan for the three months to March 31, its first ever quarterly loss. That compares with a profit of 6.15 billion yuan for the same quarter last year. By contrast, Sinopec, the world’s second largest oil refiner, on Thursday reported a first-quarter net profit of 6.66 billion yuan, triple the 2.17 billion yuan in the year-earlier quarter.