Petronas hit by lower oil prices in 1Q

OREANDA-NEWS. Profit at Malaysia's state-owned energy firm Petronas fell sharply in the first quarter compared with a year earlier because of lower oil prices. Upstream output and LNG sales increased over the period.

Petronas declared a profit of 11.4bn ringgit (\$3.16bn) during January-March, down by 39pc from 18.76bn ringgit in the same period last year. Its production rose by 4.6pc to 2.37mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), courtesy mainly of new production in Malaysia and higher demand from its Turkmenistan fields. But output on an entitlement basis fell by 8.4pc to 1.67mn boe/d.

Crude production rose by 14.1pc to 967,000 b/d, while natural gas output edged down by 1.2pc to 1.4mn boe/d.

LNG sales increased by 4pc to 8.07mn t in the period, although Petronas' domestic gas sales fell by 8.6pc to 2.63bn ft?/d (74mn m?/d) as demand dropped. Falling demand also cut oil product sales by 4pc over the period to 800,000 b/d.

Excess supplies and moderate global demand are likely to maintain pressure on crude prices this year, Petronas said. The firm recorded a 47.6bn ringgit profit in 2014, down by 27.4pc from the previous year.