BEIJING, March 27 -- CNOOC Ltd., China¡¯s largest offshore oil producer by output, said Friday its 2005 net profit rose 57 percent on soaring oil prices and strong output growth.

    Net profit for 2005 was 25.32 billion yuan (US$3.13 billion), up from 16.14 billion yuan the year before. The company¡¯s earnings last year were lower than analyst estimates. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn 27.08 billion yuan last year.

    Revenue rose 25.8 percent to 69.46 billion yuan, the firm said.

    CNOOC, which disclosed a US$2.27 billion acquisition of a stake in a Nigerian oil field mid-January, said it proposed a final dividend of 10 Hong Kong cents, following an interim dividend of 5 Hong Kong cents per share and a special interim dividend of 5 Hong Kong cents per share. In 2004, shareholders each received a final dividend of 3 Hong Kong cents, plus a special dividend of 5 Hong Kong cents.

    CNOOC produced 13.7 percent more oil and gas in offshore China in 2005, with an output of 141 million barrels of oil equivalent. In 2004, the company¡¯s offshore output was 123.9 million barrels of oil equivalent, a rise of 13.5 percent from 2003.

    Its 2005 average oil selling price was 33.6 percent higher at US$47.31 a barrel, from US$ 35.41 a barrel in 2004. High oil prices were the main driver of the earnings of the purely upstream oil firm.

    Crude oil prices soared to new heights in 2005. Benchmark U.S. oil futures advanced 40 percent to close the year at US$61.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after peaking at US$70.85 in August, when Hurricane Katrina was lashing key oil areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

    
(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)