Outlook bright for China's oil giants

Analysts believe the outstanding performance of China's three major oil companies is expected to continue in the next six months, as oil prices surge and oil companies worldwide gradually recover from the sector's two-year crash.

China National Petroleum Corp, or PetroChina, the nation's largest oil producer and supplier, said on Thursday evening that its net profit in the first half more than doubled, citing rising oil prices, cost reductions and efficiency improvement.

Net profit reached 12.68 billion yuan ($1.9 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 12.1 billion yuan, which exceeded its forecast from late July of a net profit in a range from 9 to 11 billion yuan, compared with 528 million yuan during the same period last year.