Petronas profit rises 46%

Despite falling oil prices, Malaysia’s national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) continued to chalk up an impressive growth in net profit on the back of higher average prices of the commodity. Revenue was sharply higher at 157.2 billion ringgit (US$44 billion) versus 102.8 billion ringgit (US$28.8 billion) a year ago. The surge in Petronas’s profit did not come as a surprise given the 64%, or 179.68 ringgit (US$50.51), jump in the average price of Tapis crude to US$126.48 per barrel during the six months under review. Tapis crude is the benchmark for Petronas’s production. (December 2, 2008)