A view of PetroChina's Liaoyang Petrochemical Corp. in northeast China's Liaoning Province on September 9 (XINHUA)

PetroChina Company Limited registered steady growth in the first three quarters of the year despite challenges caused by global economic slowdown, declining global oil prices and fierce competition in domestic refined oil market. According to a report released by the company on October 30, its revenue hit 1.81 trillion yuan ($258 billion) during the period, up 5.1 percent year on year.  

PetroChina is a subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, which is China’s largest oil producer. Established in 1999, PetroChina mainly engages in the exploration, development, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas.  

In the first three quarters of 2019, all the company’s business sectors achieved stable growth and made profits. The operating profit of its exploitation and production sector exceeded 76.9 billion yuan ($10.9 billion), with a year-on-year growth of 32.9 percent, continuing as the major contributor to the company’s profit growth. The company has also made major breakthroughs in unconventional oil and gas exploration and increased the oil and gas production equivalent significantly.  

To cope with problems, including overcapacity in the domestic refining and chemical industry, narrowing profit margin and lower chemical product prices, PetroChina has steadily promoted industrial restructuring and upgrading by increasing the production of items with a ready market, expanding sales of refined oil and giving priority to the sale of domestically produced natural gas. During the January-September period, it processed 906 million barrels of crude oil, up 4.3 percent compared to the previous year.  

In the fourth quarter, the company will continue to increase the reserve and production of domestic oil and natural gas in a more efficient manner, reduce production costs and address problems caused by the overcapacity of the refining and chemical industry and fierce competition in the refined oil market to achieve its annual production target and pursue high-quality growth. 

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo 

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