Sinopec Posts 1Q Earnings Rise, Outperforming PetroChina

HONG KONG - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, Thursday posted a 25% increase in first-quarter net profit, outperforming larger rival PetroChina Co.

Strong domestic fuel consumption in China boosted profits at Beijing-based Sinopec, the largest refiner in Asia by capacity. Sinopec's extensive gasoline station network gives it an edge over PetroChina, which ranks second in Chinese service stations. Lower fuel costs also help Sinopec outrun PetroChina in terms of earnings, although part of the benefit is offset by lower contribution from exploration and production.

Sinopec's net profit for the three months ended March 31 rose to 16.7 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) from 13.4 billion yuan a year earlier. PetroChina, the largest listed Chinese oil company by capacity, reported a 8% decline in net profit to 36.0 billion yuan from 39.2 billion yuan for the period.

In the first three months this year, Sinopec refined 58.7 million metric tons, or 5.9% more than a year earlier. PetroChina processed 253.5 million barrels of oil, which was 1.4% decline than a year earlier.

Analysts said lower oil prices, coupled with a recent adjustment in refined product mechanism, will benefit Sinopec and PetroChina in the second quarter, even though the Chinese government is maintaining tight control over domestic fuel prices.

China cut domestic gasoline and diesel prices Thursday, the first time it has adjusted prices since reforming its fuel price system in March. Under China's new oil product pricing system, domestic fuel prices may be adjusted when the moving average of a basket of international crude oils over a period of 10 working days reflects a change of more than CNY50 a ton for diesel and gasoline prices.

"We continue to believe that the new refining mechanism reduces the regulatory risk of Sinopec's refining business and thus should lead to higher valuations for Sinopec over time," Citigroup analyst Graham Cunningham said Thursday.

Last month, Sinopec agreed to buy $1.5 billion of its parent's approximately $40 billion of overseas oil and gas assets as part of a plan to increase its global exploration and production.

The new assets--including projects in Kazakhstan, Colombia and Russia--would increase Sinopec's overseas proved reserves by 359% to 330.2 million barrels of oil equivalent from 72.0 million BOE as the end of last year. Its overseas production will increase by 171% to 58.7 million BOE in 2012 from 21.7 million BOE.

The acquisitions are aimed at putting Sinopec on par with integrated global energy majors such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

To fund its acquisition of parent assets, Sinopec last week issued a $3.5 billion U.S. dollar bond--the largest dollar-denominated bond out of Asia excluding Japan in a decade. The bond issue came weeks after it raised $3.1 billion in February through a private placement, Asia's largest placement this year.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Encana Posts Smaller 4Q Loss; Results Beat Views

Encana Corp., which has been grappling with a slump in natural-gas prices, posted a fourth-quarter loss that was much smaller than its year-earlier loss and better than analyst expectations.

The Calgary, Alberta-based natural-gas focused company said it lost $80 million in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of $476 million a year earlier.

Operating earnings, which exclude amounts related to hedging and impairments, improved to $296 million, or 40 cents a share, from $232 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier.

The Thomson Reuters mean estimate was for a profit of 33 cents a share.

Cash flow dipped 18% to $809 million, or $1.10 a share.

Natural gas production averaged 2.95 billion cubic feet a day, down 15% from a year earlier, while liquids production jumped 51% to 36,200 barrels a day.

Encana said it's budgeting about 80% of its 2013 operating budget to light oil and liquids-rich natural gas plays.

Capital spending for 2013 is projected at $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion and cash flow at $2.3 billion to $2.5 billion. It's targeting net divestitures in the range $500 million to $1.0 billion.

Encana said it expects oil and natural gas liquids production this year to be between 50,000 and 60,000 barrels a day, with annual natural gas production around 2.8 billion to 3.0 billion cubic feet a day.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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WorleyParsons Posts 1H Profit Rise, Remains Optimistic on O&G Outlook

WorleyParsons said Wednesday that it is confident about the outlook for its hydrocarbons segment, amid increased capital expenditure announcements from major oil companies.

In its earnings statement, the company said that it expects "a high number of greenfield and brownfield opportunities and favorable economics to continue to drive increased gas utilization and oil production projects."

In the six months to Dec. 31, 2012, WorleyParsons posted Wednesday a net profit of $160.6 million (AUD 155.1 million), up 2.1 percent from the previous corresponding period of $157.1 million (AUD 151.9 million).

In the same period, WorleyParsons recognized a 33.7 percent lift in revenue at $4.6 billion (AUD 4.4 billion). The company's hydrocarbon segment helped boost its profit, accounting for $2.9 billion (AUD 2.8 billion), up 14 from one year ago.

"Demand for our hydrocarbons services remains strong. We continue to see a high level of development activity in unconventional oil and gas around the world. The low cost of natural gas in the U.S. continues to drive downstream developments, including pipelines, petrochemicals, liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquids projects," WorleyParsons said in its earnings report.

"We believe that our global experience in coal seam methane, tight gas and shale gas positions us very well in this market by enabling us to provide a differentiated and proven market offering," the company added.

WorleyParsons is also expecting to employ more workers in line with its ambitions to grow its hydrocarbons segment.

"Our people numbers have declined marginally from Jun. 30, 2012. However, we expect people numbers to increase over the second half [of this year]," the company said. At present, WorleyParsons employs 40,400 workers.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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WorleyParsons Posts 1H Profit Rise, Remains Optimistic on O&G Outlook

WorleyParsons said Wednesday that it is confident about the outlook for its hydrocarbons segment, amid increased capital expenditure announcements from major oil companies.

In its earnings statement, the company said that it expects "a high number of greenfield and brownfield opportunities and favorable economics to continue to drive increased gas utilization and oil production projects."

In the six months to Dec. 31, 2012, WorleyParsons posted Wednesday a net profit of $160.6 million (AUD 155.1 million), up 2.1 percent from the previous corresponding period of $157.1 million (AUD 151.9 million).

In the same period, WorleyParsons recognized a 33.7 percent lift in revenue at $4.6 billion (AUD 4.4 billion). The company's hydrocarbon segment helped boost its profit, accounting for $2.9 billion (AUD 2.8 billion), up 14 from one year ago.

"Demand for our hydrocarbons services remains strong. We continue to see a high level of development activity in unconventional oil and gas around the world. The low cost of natural gas in the U.S. continues to drive downstream developments, including pipelines, petrochemicals, liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquids projects," WorleyParsons said in its earnings report.

"We believe that our global experience in coal seam methane, tight gas and shale gas positions us very well in this market by enabling us to provide a differentiated and proven market offering," the company added.

WorleyParsons is also expecting to employ more workers in line with its ambitions to grow its hydrocarbons segment.

"Our people numbers have declined marginally from Jun. 30, 2012. However, we expect people numbers to increase over the second half [of this year]," the company said. At present, WorleyParsons employs 40,400 workers.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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PTTEP Posts Strong Increase in Net Profit, O&G Production Volume

PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) said late Thursday net profit for the full year 2012 surged 28 percent, on increased oil production and higher crude prices.

Net profit for 2012 was $1.9 billion, compared with $1.5 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 26 percent to $7 billion, as compared to $5.7 billion in 2011.

"Sales volume went up 275, 923 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) compared with 265,047 boed in 2011. Contributing to the increased sales were petroleum products from Bongkot South field, the Vietnam 16-1 project and the S1 project," PTTEP's CEO Tevin Vongvanich said in a statement Friday.

Vongvanich,also noted that PTTEP's average sale price of a barrel of oil (boe) for 2012 is $64.86, as compared to $55.49 boe in 2011.

PTTEP disclosed that one of the key progresses for 2012 was the S1 project's ability to increase the production to the highest rate at 35,176 barrels per day (bpd). The Bongkot project's production rate was around 596 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), while the production of Bongkot South was 320 mmscfd.

This year, PTTEP is targeting a sales volume of 310,000 boe. Vongvanich revealed Jan.24 that the bulk of its increased oil sales will be derived from the start of commercial operations at its Montara oil field offshore Australia.

The Montara incident which occurred Aug. 21, 2009, saw 29,600 barrels of crude oil leak into the water over a 74-day period, after a jackup burst into flames. The well was subsequently killed Nov. 3, 2009. PTTEP is aiming to restart operations.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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PTTEP Posts Strong Increase in Net Profit, O&G Production Volume

PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) said late Thursday net profit for the full year 2012 surged 28 percent, on increased oil production and higher crude prices.

Net profit for 2012 was $1.9 billion, compared with $1.5 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 26 percent to $7 billion, as compared to $5.7 billion in 2011.

"Sales volume went up 275, 923 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) compared with 265,047 boed in 2011. Contributing to the increased sales were petroleum products from Bongkot South field, the Vietnam 16-1 project and the S1 project," PTTEP's CEO Tevin Vongvanich said in a statement Friday.

Vongvanich,also noted that PTTEP's average sale price of a barrel of oil (boe) for 2012 is $64.86, as compared to $55.49 boe in 2011.

PTTEP disclosed that one of the key progresses for 2012 was the S1 project's ability to increase the production to the highest rate at 35,176 barrels per day (bpd). The Bongkot project's production rate was around 596 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), while the production of Bongkot South was 320 mmscfd.

This year, PTTEP is targeting a sales volume of 310,000 boe. Vongvanich revealed Jan.24 that the bulk of its increased oil sales will be derived from the start of commercial operations at its Montara oil field offshore Australia.

The Montara incident which occurred Aug. 21, 2009, saw 29,600 barrels of crude oil leak into the water over a 74-day period, after a jackup burst into flames. The well was subsequently killed Nov. 3, 2009. PTTEP is aiming to restart operations.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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PTTEP Posts Strong Increase in Net Profit, O&G Production Volume

PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) said late Thursday net profit for the full year 2012 surged 28 percent, on increased oil production and higher crude prices.

Net profit for 2012 was $1.9 billion, compared with $1.5 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 26 percent to $7 billion, as compared to $5.7 billion in 2011.

"Sales volume went up 275, 923 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) compared with 265,047 boed in 2011. Contributing to the increased sales were petroleum products from Bongkot South field, the Vietnam 16-1 project and the S1 project," PTTEP's CEO Tevin Vongvanich said in a statement Friday.

Vongvanich,also noted that PTTEP's average sale price of a barrel of oil (boe) for 2012 is $64.86, as compared to $55.49 boe in 2011.

PTTEP disclosed that one of the key progresses for 2012 was the S1 project's ability to increase the production to the highest rate at 35,176 barrels per day (bpd). The Bongkot project's production rate was around 596 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), while the production of Bongkot South was 320 mmscfd.

This year, PTTEP is targeting a sales volume of 310,000 boe. Vongvanich revealed Jan.24 that the bulk of its increased oil sales will be derived from the start of commercial operations at its Montara oil field offshore Australia.

The Montara incident which occurred Aug. 21, 2009, saw 29,600 barrels of crude oil leak into the water over a 74-day period, after a jackup burst into flames. The well was subsequently killed Nov. 3, 2009. PTTEP is aiming to restart operations.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here