Malaysian energy giant Petronas posted a drop of 85 percent in its second-quarter profit due to low oil and gas prices.
Net income fell to 1.62 billion ringgit ($402 million) in the second quarter, from 11.07 billion ringgit a year ago, Petronas said on Monday.
Revenue dropped 21 percent to 48.44 billion ringgit.
“The steep decline in performance was the result of lower average realised prices across all products following the downward trend of key benchmark prices (Dated Brent and Japan Customs Cleared Crude (JCC)) prices,” Petronas said.
Total production volume for Malaysia and international for the first half of 2016 was 2.39 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, a slight increase compared to 2.33 million BOE per day in the previous corresponding period.
The increase was mainly due to higher gas production from fields in Peninsular Malaysia to support the shortfall in imported gas, additional production streams from Indonesia and Algeria, and improved facilities uptime and efficiency in Malaysia and Canada, the company said.
Total LNG sales volume of 14.37 million tonnes for the half-year was lower than 14.96 million tonnes in the previous corresponding period mainly from trading activities. This was offset by new volumes from Gladstone LNG facility in Australia, according to Petronas.
Looking forward, Petronas said that despite a modest recovery in crude oil prices, uncertainties remain due to “persistent oversupply and sluggish demand outlook.”
“Petronas continues to remain focused in driving efficiency efforts and fiscal discipline in this challenging industry environment. While performance for the rest of 2016 will continue to be impacted by volatility in oil prices, the financial position and liquidity of Petronas are expected to remain strong.”
1 Malaysian ringgit = 0.248185 U.S. dollars