Petronas profits down as demand, prices fall

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas said yesterday profits in the first half of fiscal year 2009-10 nearly halved as the global recession hit demand and crude oil prices tumbled from year-ago levels.

Petronas' crude oil output in the country has continued to fall, down to 450,400 barrels per day (bpd) in the April-September period this year, from 485,400 bpd by the earlier fiscal year ending March 2009, it said.

"The decrease in revenue for HY 2009 was mainly due to the overall decrease in product prices and lower sales volume," Petronas said in a statement.

"[But revenues] were partly mitigated by the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar."

Oil firms such as Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have suffered from severely reduced earnings due to weaker crude oil prices. Analysts say though crude prices have risen to $74 (Dh271) a barrel from a low of less than $33 in Dec-ember, they are still way below a high of more than $147 touched in July last year.

Unlisted Petronas' profit for April-September 2009 stood at 20.3 billion ringgit versus 38.6 billion ringgit in the same period a year ago. Revenues dropped 37.5 per cent to 98.2 billion ringgit from 157.2 billion ringgit.

Petronas is also battling with slowing production at home, especially on the continental shelf of Mal-aysia as ageing fields took their toll after years of steady output. Production is higher in the offshore Borneo island.

Petronas' overall global energy output has slowed in Africa and the Middle East due to the worldwide economic fallout.