CNOOC sales drop 15% as output falls

CNOOC Ltd, China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer, posted a 15 percent fall in third-quarter sales as out-put declined with capital spending. Its shares led declines among energy companies in Asia on Thursday.

Revenue from oil and natural gas was 30.75 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) in the three months ended on Sept 30, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday. CNOOC, which doesn't report quarterly prof-it, said output fell 7.7 percent.

CNOOC fell as much as 3.4 percent in Hong Kong on Thursday before trading down 3.1 percent at HK$10.16($1.31) at 9:57 am local time. The city's benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 per-cent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific AP Energy Index lost 0.9 percent.