Second-quarter net income rose 26 percent to 31.5 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), derived by subtracting earnings for January to March from first-half figures announced in Hong Kong yesterday. The Beijing-based oil producer and refiner joins China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, in reporting higher profit.

The gains contrast with earnings declines at Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc after the global recession cut U.S. and European consumption. PetroChina, Sinopec and Cnooc Ltd., the nation’s biggest oil companies, this week pledged to step up acquisitions of energy reserves and refineries overseas to take advantage of lower valuations after oil prices slumped.

“The global crisis hasn’t bottomed out yet and there are still assets with attractive valuations,” Jiang Xinmin, a deputy director of energy market research at the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, said by telephone from Beijing yesterday. “Domestic fuel demand will likely rebound with the economic recovery, potentially boosting sales at the nation’s oil producers.”

China’s economic growth accelerated to 7.9 percent in the second quarter from a 6.1 percent pace in the first three months that was the slowest in almost a decade. The world’s second- largest energy user processed a record volume of crude oil in July as industrial production climbed almost 11 percent.

PetroChina Shares

Shares in PetroChina, which overtook Exxon as the world’s biggest company by market value in May, fell 0.2 percent to HK$8.81 in Hong Kong before the results announcement. The stock, which has climbed about 30 percent this year, lagged behind the 42 percent increase in Sinopec and Cnooc Ltd.’s 43 percent gain.

China has raised prices of fuels such as gasoline and diesel by as much as 25 percent this year under a new pricing system that tracks crude oil costs and ensures refiners a profit. The policy change helped Sinopec end four years of refining losses and prompted PetroChina to boost investments in oil processing.

PetroChina plans to ramp up output of crude oil and fuels and expects to acquire more overseas refineries after completing its purchase of Singapore Petroleum Co., President Zhou Jiping said today. The oil producer announced a takeover of Singapore Petroleum at an estimated cost of about $2.2 billion in May.

Record Refining

The Beijing-based company’s operating profit at its refining unit reached a record 17.2 billion yuan in the first six months, Zhou said. PetroChina expects second-half refining margins to maintain stable growth and wants to boost its share in the country’s refining capacity to more than 40 percent.

First-half profit fell 7.2 percent to 50.5 billion yuan, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company restated its net income for the year-earlier period to 54.4 billion yuan. Mao Zefeng, the company’s spokesman, confirmed the second-quarter profit of 31.5 billion yuan calculated by subtracting January-to-March profit from six-month earnings reported today.

“In the second half, the result will be better than the first half,” Shi Yan, an analyst with UOB-Kay Hian Ltd., said by telephone yesterday. “Every time Beijing raises domestic prices in line with global benchmarks, it’s positive for PetroChina.”

Oil Prices

Oil futures in New York more than doubled to $72 a barrel from a low of $33.55 a barrel on Feb. 12 on speculation the global economy is recovering and fuel consumption may rise. They remain about 50 percent below the record $147.27 reached in July 2008.

Recovering oil prices helped Cnooc, China’s biggest offshore oil producer, post a higher first-half profit than analysts expected. Net income fell 55 percent to 12.4 billion yuan, beating estimates for a profit of 11.5 billion yuan. Sinopec’s first-half profit rose more than fourfold to 33.2 billion yuan. Profit at Exxon, based in Irving, Texas, tumbled 66 percent in the second quarter to $3.95 billion, while Shell’s net income slumped 67 percent to $3.8 billion.

Lower commodity prices have prompted Chinese energy companies led by PetroChina and its parent to acquire overseas assets.

Breakthroughs

PetroChina seeks “breakthroughs” in overseas acquisitions in the second half by taking advantage of “favorable opportunities,” according to a presentation at the earnings briefing in Hong Kong today. Cnooc said this week it will step up exploration and acquisitions to increase reserves and meet demand in the country.

China National Petroleum Corp., which has an 86.7 percent stake in PetroChina, proposed offering $13 billion to $14.5 billion for a controlling stake in Repsol YPF SA’s Argentine unit, three people familiar with the matter said last month.

On the potential bid for YPF stake, Zhou, who is also vice president at parent CNPC, said the company has “nothing to disclose at the moment.” CNPC will consider buying South American assets if “opportunities meet its needs,” he said.

Chinese companies have spent at least $13 billion acquiring oil assets overseas since December, including purchases in Singapore, Syria and Kazakhstan. The world’s second-biggest energy-consuming nation is securing supplies after crude prices fell and imports jumped fivefold in the last decade.

PetroChina will maintain double-digit growth in domestic natural-gas output in the coming years to meet China’s rising demand for the cleaner-burning fuel, the company said.

The oil producer will buy the contractual rights for a natural gas block in Turkmenistan from its parent company for $1.19 billion, the company said in a separate statement yesterday.