China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC) on Wednesday announced first half net profits down by 10.6 percent from the same period last year to 14.55 billion yuan.  

First half revenue of the company decreased by 12.7 percent to 42.22 billion yuan, with basic earnings per share down 12.8 percent to 0.34 yuan.

The company attributed the decrease to factors including lower crude oil prices, higher operating expenses and the increase in the special levy on oil exploration profits.

The average oil price realized by CNOOC was 58.8 U.S. dollars per barrel in the first half, a decrease of 5.8 percent. The gas price was unchanged from the same period last year at 3.21 dollars per thousand cubic feet.

"Despite the challenge from lower oil prices, CNOOC has maintained a stable and remarkable financial performance benefiting from solid operational performance and an excellent management system," said Fu Chengyu, chairman and chief executive officer.

The negative impact of lower oil prices had been partly offset by a steady increase in oil production. Its net offshore production of oil and gas rose 4.5 percent to 85.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first half, according to the company.

CNOOC made seven new oil and gas discoveries: Bozhong28-2 East, Bozhong26-3, Jinzhou25-1, Kenli20-1 in Bohai Bay and Weizhou11-7, Weizhou11-8, Weizhou6-1 South in the western South China Sea.

The Jinzhou 25-1 discovery contained abundant reserves of light crude, and was expected to be developed into a large oil field, said the Hong Kong and New York-listed company.

CNOOC is the listed arm of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the country's largest offshore oil and gas producer.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2007)