CNOOC Increased Its Profit 1.5

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.

CNOOC 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 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.