PetroChina suffers first-ever loss as refining buoys rivals

Hong Kong

THE biggest oil and gas producer in the world's largest energy user posted a loss for the first time in its publicly traded history, falling to the bottom of the barrel among oil majors as refining profits kept rivals afloat.

PetroChina Co on Thursday reported a 13.8 billion yuan (S$2.86 billion) loss for the first quarter, its first since it started trading publicly in 2000. Its state-owned peer, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, the Asian oil-refining behemoth known as Sinopec, said a few minutes later that profit over the same period tripled to 6.66 billion yuan.