CNOOC H1 profits falls 19 pct

China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited (CNOOC) -- the country's largest offshore oil producer -- has seen its half-year net profits fall 19 percent to 31.87 billion yuan (5.02 billion U.S. dollars).

The declining demand for crude oil in global markets as well as the economic downturn hit the company's profitability, CNOOC said in its half-year report, filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Despite the 19 percent year-on-year fall, the oil giant remains one of the most profitable companies in the country. It posted record-high net profits of 70.26 billion yuan for the whole of 2011.

In the first half of this year, oil and gas revenues dipped 1.4 percent from a year earlier, to 95.66 billion yuan, the Hong Kong-listed company said.

Oil and gas output totaled 160.9 million barrels, down 4.6 percent year-on-year. That was a result of an oilfield in China's Bohai Bay being suspended because of an oil leak. The drop was also due to maintenance of oilfields and the sale of interests in a block in Indonesia.

The company's earnings per share also went down 19 percent to reach 0.71 yuan, while the board of directors proposed a half-year pretax dividend of 0.15 Hong Kong dollar pending the approval of shareholders.

The company's average oil price stood at 116.91 U.S. dollars per barrel and the average natural gas price reached 5.9 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic feet, representing year-on-year increases of 8.1 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

The company aims to meet its annual production target of between 330 million and 340 million barrels of oil equivalent.