PetroChina Co, the country's biggest oil and gas producer, posted a 30 percent increase in third-quarter earnings thanks to higher crude oil prices and increased output.

The company reported a net profit of 39.89 billion yuan from July to September. Earnings per share were 0.22 yuan, an increase of 0.05 yuan from the same period of last year, PetroChina said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.

From January to September, PetroChina's total oil and gas output reached 880.7 million barrels equivalent, an increase of 6 percent year-on-year, said the statement.

In the period the company processed 642.5 million barrels of crude oil, up by 5.1 percent year-on-year, said the statement.

In another statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange on Wednesday, Sinopec Corp, the country's largest refiner, posted a 39 percent fall in third-quarter earnings, as higher crude prices pushed its refining business deep into the red, even after it received 11.7 billion yuan in government subsidies.

In the first nine months the company processed 128.77 million tons of crude oil, up by 7.25 percent from the same period last year, said the statement.

In the period the company produced 31.33 million tons of crude oil, and 6.1 billion cu m of natural gas, said the statement.

"If there is no adjustment on refined oil prices in the fourth quarter, PetroChina and Sinopec will see good financial performance in the period," said Liu Gu, an analyst with Guotai Jun'an Securities in Shenzhen.

The crude oil price rose to a record of US$147 per barrel in July. However, domestic refined oil products prices are controlled by the government.

(China Daily October 30, 3008)