PetroChina net profits slump 60% in 2015

BEIJING - Net profits of PetroChina Co Ltd, China's top oil and gas producer, shrank more than 60 percent to 35.52 billion yuan ($5.55 billion) in 2015.

Business revenues hit more than 1.73 trillion yuan, down 24.4 percent year on year, the company said in its annual business report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

It attributed the decreases to a sluggish global economic recovery, downward pressure on the domestic economy, and plunges in international oil prices.

Its domestic exploration and production operations achieved crude oil output of 806 million barrels, down 2.1 percent from the previous year, and marketable natural gas output of 2.9 trillion cubic feet, up 0.8 percent year on year.

The company pocketed 107.17 billion yuan in net profits in 2014.