China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's largest oil and gas producer, announced Thursday that its income from its major business in the first half year is 335 billion yuan (US$40.5 billion), up 39.6 percent year on year.

CNPC's profits in the six-month period grew by 19.2 billion yuan (US$2.3 billion), up 37 percent from a year earlier.

The tax paid by the corporation in the first half year is 12.9 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion), an increase of 25.9 percent.

In the six months the corporation produced 65.45 million tons of crude oil, up 3.9 percent, and 18.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas, up 20.1 percent.

In its oil refining and chemical sector, CNPC refined 59.3 million tons of crude oil in the firs half year, 10.4 percent more than a year earlier, and its output of gasoline, diesel and kerosene during this period was 10.8 percent higher over the same period of last year.

Furthermore, CNPC's domestic sales of refined oil increased by 11.2 percent, and the output of chemical products, up 8.9 percent.     

In its international business sector, CNPC saw its overseas oil and natural gas output grow by 9.6 percent and 8.1 percent respectively over the first half year of 2004.

The construction of CNPC's major oil and gas pipelines and major refinery bases made good headway in the period.

CNPC also save 350,000 tons of standard coal and 28 million cubic meters of water in its operations in the first six months of 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2005)