PetroChina unveils plan to increase capacity

PetroChina said it has a US$3.22 billion plan to boost capacity after a 7.2% year-on-year drop in first-half net profits, the Wall Street Journal reported. PetroChina said it will buy capacity from its parent company, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), including CNPC’s stake in a production-sharing contract on a gas field in Turkmenistan for US$1.19 billion, 10 of CNPC’s petrochemical refineries in China for US$1.62 billion, and a domestic oil and gas producer for US$412.4 million. PetroChina said Friday that its net profit for the first six months of the year dropped to US$7.40 billion, down from US$7.97 billion from the same period last year due to a lower contribution from its upstream business. The company’s crude oil output in the first half fell 4.8% to 417.7 million barrels, while its natural gas output rose 10.6% to 1.201 trillion cubic feet.