CNOOC Ltd., the smallest of China's three main state-owned oil companies, said Thursday that its net profit more than doubled in the first half of the year, swelled by higher prices and a stimulus-linked surge in production.
The Beijing-based company's net profit in January-June was 25.99 billion yuan ($3.83 billion), compared with 12.4 billion yuan a year earlier. Earnings per share also more than doubled, to 0.58 yuan ($0.085).
Along with China's other big oil companies, CNOOC, the country's main offshore producer, has benefited from the country's massive economic stimulus program.
The company said its output rose 41 percent to 149 million barrels of oil equivalent, while revenues more than doubled to 83.16 billion yuan ($12.2 billion).
Meanwhile, CNOOC's average oil price climbed 55 percent over a year earlier to $76.59 per barrel.
"Early this year, we set a rather ambitious production target. Moving steadily towards this target, we have achieved remarkable results for the first half of the year," Fu Chengyu, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, said in the report.
CNOOC expects to further expand production in deep water and other offshore areas, as well as its overseas holdings such as the Akpo oil field in Nigeria, Fu said.
He said CNOOC would continue to look for opportunities to acquire more assets through mergers and acquisitions.
