Chinese Cnooc Reports Near 8% Drop in Q3 Output

China National Offshore Oil Corp reported October 26 a 7.7% year-on-year decline in third quarter output amid weak demand in downstream gas market. The state owned offshore explorer achieved total net production of 117.7mn boe.

For the quarter, the unaudited oil and gas sales revenue of the company reached Chinese yuan 30.75bn ($4.53bn), representing a decrease of 15.2% on the previous year. The company's average realised oil price fell by 13.5% to $42.26/b, while the average realised gas price was $5.22/'000 ft³, down 18.6% compared with the same quarter last year, Cnooc said.

Mirroring the trend seen across the global oil industry, the company continued to lower costs, enhance efficiency and cut capital expenditure for the whole year. During the period, the company's capital expenditure was Chinese yuan 11.67bn, down 20.9% on year.

During the period, the company made one new discovery and drilled ten successful appraisal wells offshore China.

Shardul Sharma