Malaysia's Petronas returns to the black in Q3

　　KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas firm Petronas said Tuesday it had returned to the black in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 (FY21) on higher oil prices and lower net impairment losses on assets.

　　Petronas said in a statement that it registered a profit after tax (PAT) of 16.3 billion ringgit, compared with the loss after tax (LAT) of 3.4 billion ringgit a year earlier.

　　The group's quarterly revenue also increased by 50 percent to 61.8 billion ringgit from 41.1 billion ringgit a year earlier, due to higher average realized prices for major products.

　　For the first nine months ended Sept. 30, the group also recorded a PAT of 35.2 billion ringgit, versus LAT of 19.9 billion ringgit a year ago.

　　The group said the improved performance was attributed to the higher commodity prices, underpinned by the rebound in energy demand as key economies recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

　　The group's revenue for the period also rose 27 percent to 171.4 billion ringgit from 134.7 billion ringgit a year ago, due to a favorable average realized prices for major products coupled with higher sales volume, mainly for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and sales gas.

　　Its capital expenditure for the period stood at 20.4 billion ringgit, mainly attributed to upstream projects.

　　Petronas said the current trajectory of the oil and gas industry is expected to continue, given the modest recovery in demand underpinned by improvements in economic activities globally.

　　"Petronas will remain steadfast in driving operational and commercial excellence to improve its liquidity and profitability, in pursuit of its growth strategy," it said. (1 ringgit equals to 0.24 U.S. dollar) Enditem