Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC 2008 net profit up 42%

CNOOC, the leading offshore oil producer in the Chinese mainland, on Tuesday reported year on year growth of 42 percent in its net profit in 2008, which was in line with market estimates. The net profit of the Hong Kong-listed firm was 44.4 billion yuan (6.5 billion U.S. dollars). The company announced a final dividend of 0.2 HK dollars (0.026 U.S. dollars) per share, leading to a full-year total of 0.4 HK dollars (0.051 U.S. dollars). Yang Hua, the chief financial officer who on Tuesday took over from Zhou Shouwei as company president, said the company recorded oil and gas sales of 100.83 billion yuan (14.76 billion U.S. dollars), up 38.1 percent from the previous year.