Petronas Group has delivered another stellar performance with first half revenue posting RM109.6 billion which translates to a 17 per cent increase from RM93.6 billion in the first half of 2020, the oil giant attributes this rise mainly to favourable oil price and higher sales volume for liquefied natural gas.
This timely performance also led to an jump in earnings before tax which stood at RM46.1 billion, a 57 per cent increase from RM29.4 billion, mainly due to higher revenue coupled with lower operating expenditure. Interestingly the second quarter was the highest with RM57.1 billion, an increase of 68 per cent from RM34.0 billion in the corresponding quarter last year as reflected in the steady rise in global oil price and opening of markets across the globe.
Tengku Muhammad Taufik, President and GCEO’ attributed the solid performance to the response by the team to ensure continued operational work during a period of favourable market conditions in the first half of 2021.
“This was made possible by the dedicated and selfless service of our front liners and employees Group-wide. PETRONAS was thus able to leverage its integrated value chain with a sharper focus on commercial excellence and preserve healthy levels of liquidity, which have proven to be advantageous.
“Amidst an uncertain outlook, the Group remains steadfast in delivering cost-effective solutions with a lower carbon footprint by advancing its technology and digitalisation agenda. PETRONAS will continue to progress its three-pronged growth strategy at pace and intensify its sustainability efforts to secure new opportunities in the energy transition.
The oil and gas industry has seen a recovery in price and demand following the reopening of key economies globally. Nevertheless, the anticipated rise in oil supply and fresh lockdowns triggered by the emergence of new COVID-19 variants may impact the price and demand recovery.
Total daily production average of 2,345 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day recorded in the first half of this year is higher than the 2,255 thousand boe per day recorded in the first half of 2020, mainly driven by higher gas production due to increase in demand, both in domestic and international operations.
As for the upstream business, the group had six exploration discoveries – four discoveries offshore Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, one discovery offshore East Java in Indonesia, and one discovery offshore Brunei.
On its net zero emission aspiration, Petronas recently completed two major Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction projects, located off the coast of Sarawak.
