The PetroChina Company Limited announced here Wednesday that it recorded a net profit of 61.6 billion renminbi (about US$7.59 billion) for the first six months ended June 30, 2005, an increase of 36.1 percent from the same period of last year.

Earnings per share reached 0.35 renminbi, which was approximately 0.09 renminbi higher than that for the same period of 2004.

The Board of Directors of the Company proposed to allocate 45 percent of the half year net profits for paying interim dividend for 2005, equivalent to approximately 0.157719 renminbi per share.

By leveraging the continued high crude oil prices and the steadily rapid growth of the domestic economy, the company achieved improved operational results and a notable increase in earnings during the first half of 2005.

"We have seen sound performance in our major business segments during the first half of 2005. Our oil and gas exploration achieved significant breakthroughs in both the eastern and western China regions thanks to the great efforts we have made, while oil and gas production also saw increases," said PetroChina President Jiang Jiemin.

He added, "Our refinery segment improved key technical indicators, the chemical segment increased both the output and sales of major products, and our pipeline construction progressed rapidly. All these achievements have contributed to laying a solid ground for us to reach our full year performance target."

For the first half of this year, the company recorded a turnover of 252.5 billion renminbi (about US$31.13 billion), representing an increase of 41.5 percent from the same period of last year. The half year operating profits reached 85.5 billion renminbi (about US$10.54 billion), representing a rise of 33.1 percent from the same period last year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2005)