PetroChina Company Limited, the listedsubsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, China's largest oil producer, reported on Thursday that its net profit for the first half of 2007 was 81.83 billion yuan, up 1.4 percent from the first half of 2006.

According to its half-year release, consolidated turnover for the first half was 392.7 billion yuan, up 20.3 percent over the same period last year, with earnings per share reaching a record high of 0.46 yuan.

Pre-tax profit decreased 4.8 percent from a year earlier to 110.3 billion yuan, due to lower crude oil prices, the rise in operating expenses and in the special levy for oil exploration profits, said the company.

The average realized crude oil price in the first half of 2007 was US$ 57.69 per barrel, down 1.8 percent from US$ 58.75 per barrel from a year earlier.

The total output of crude oil and natural gas for the January-June period rose 3.7 percent from the same period of last year to 552.7 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Hong Kong-listed company produced 420 million barrels of crude oil and 798 billion cubic feet of marketable natural gas, up 0.1 percent and 16.5 percent respectively from the first half of 2006.

PetroChina announced the discovery of the Jidong Nanpu Oilfield in China's Bohai Bay in May. The proved reserves of the oil field confirmed by the government is 445 million tons and the three-level geological reserves of oil and gas is up to 1.18 billion tons.

The company produced 7.83 million tons of chemical products in the first half, up 18.1 percent from a year earlier. Its overseas oil and gas production reached 29 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first half year, up 6.6 percent year on year.

The refining and marketing sector witnessed profits of 3.9 billion yuan for the first six months, compared to a loss of 13.9 billion yuan in the same period of 2006.

Higher realized prices of refined products in the domestic market and a decrease in the purchase costs of crude oil are the major reasons for the change, said the company.

The natural gas and pipeline segment recorded an operating profit of 6.13 billion yuan in the first half, up 33.6 percent from the same period of 2006.

"The segment has become the company's new growth point and is poised to grow significantly," said the company in the circular.

PetroChina has launched its first domestic listing plan for a public offering of up to four billion A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).

Having got approval of shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting held this month, the Hong Kong-listed company is waiting for approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the SSE and other authorities.

PetroChina's share price closed Thursday at 11.04 HK dollars, up 2.6 percent from the closing price 10.76 HK dollars on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24 2007)