PetroChina profit crashes 67% on oil price slump

Weighed down by falling petroleum prices and slowdown of Chinese economy, oil giant PetroChina Co suffered a 67 per cent slump in profits, the worst in about 15 years and ending up with a liability of $162 billion.

Among all non-financial A-share companies, State-owned PetroChina Co topped the list with 1.05 trillion yuan ($162.8 billion) liability, official media reported on Monday. State-run Securities Daily recorded the liability despite bringing down its debt ratio to 43.8 per cent from 45.2 per cent a year ago after slashing total debts by 3.5 per cent last year. PetroChina obtained regulatory approval in December to issue no more than 40 billion yuan worth of corporate bonds, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The thirst for liquidity came as oil companies reported a weaker year due to nosediving oil price. Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world's oil, plunged 48 per cent last year.

Chinese economy too weakened as it slowed down to 6.9 per cent last year with forecast of further decline this year. The other mainland-listed oil magnet Sinopec reported a 32.1 per cent decrease in net profit to 32.2 billion yuan, state-run China Daily reported.