Petronas posts 61.7% spike in first quarter profit

Malaysia’s Petronas posted a 61.7% year-on-year spike in net profit for the first quarter of 2012 to MYR20.7 billion (US$6.5 billion) led mostly by favorable prices and higher crude oil trading volumes. First quarter revenue rose by 14.6% year-on-year, bringing in a total of MYR75.20 billion (US$23.9 billion). The company’s exploration and production business reported revenues of MYR30 billion (US$9.5 billion) in the first quarter of 2012 compared to MYR27.2 billion (US$8.6 billion) in the same period last year. Volume sales of petroleum products fell by 600,000 barrels to 70.4 million barrels due largely to lower market demand which was affected by the high crude oil price environment. (May 31, 2012)