China's largest oil and gas producer PetroChina reported its best quarterly net profit since June 2016 on Friday, thanks to a rally in global crude prices and strong refining business.
PetroChina's net profit for the first quarter rose 78 percent over the same year-ago period to 10.15 billion yuan ($1.60 billion).
Revenue rose to 542.65 billion yuan, up 9.9 percent from 493.6 billion yuan in the same period last year.
Operating profit from the natural gas and pipeline business rose 13.2 percent in the first three months from a year earlier to 11.2 billion yuan, benefiting from higher gas sales prices and stronger demand for the fuel during winter heating season.
PetroChina, the country's second-largest state refiner after Sinopec, processed 282 million barrels of crude oil in the first quarter, up nearly 15 percent versus a year earlier.
($1 = 6.3325 Chinese yuan renminbi)
