PetroChina Profit Falls 35% on Low Oil Prices

BEIJING - PetroChina(PTR Quote), China's biggest oil company, said Tuesday its profit fell 35.3% in the first quarter on low oil prices and weak demand as it headed into what it warned earlier would be a difficult year.

Profit for the quarter ending March 31 was 18.9 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) or 0.10 yuan a share, compared with 29.3 billion yuan or 0.16 yuan a share in the same period of 2008. Revenue fell 30% to 181.6 billion yuan ($26.5 billion).

"International crude oil prices remained at low levels and the domestic demand for oil and petrochemical products declined," the company said in a statement.

Global crude prices have fallen by about two-thirds from a record high of $147 a barrel in July.

PetroChina warned last month in its 2008 annual report that it will face "huge difficulties" and "unexpected risks" this year because of the global slowdown.

China's economic growth slowed to 6.1% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. But economists say rising factory output and investment in March suggest the country might be past the worst of its slowdown.

PetroChina is Asia's biggest oil producer by volume and the world's most valuable company by market capitalization after Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote).