Petronas posted a pre-tax profit of RM18.2 billion for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010, up 9.6 percent from RM16.6 billion in the same quarter last year.

Its revenue rose by 10.3 percent to RM57 billion from RM51.7 billion.

For the six-month period ended Sept 30, 2010, the national oil company's pre-tax profit jumped 26.9 percent to RM39.6 billion from RM31.2 billion.

The company's revenue increased 17.6 percent to RM115.5 billion compared with RM98.2 billion in the same period last year.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the second quarter results, Petronas president and chief executive officer Shamsul Azhar Abbas said the improved performance in the second quarter was due to high demand and prices.

He said global oil demand has been increasing steadily by four percent year-on-year in line with higher economic activities.

"The world oil demand is expected to record 87.3 million barrels per day this year and increase to 88.5 million barrels per day next year," he said.

Better performance expected

On the outlook for the current year, Shamsul Azhar said Petronas expects to record better performance in the financial year ending March 31, 2011.

He said the company expects to register RM80 billion pre-tax profit for the period if the current economic environment remains healthy.

He also said Petronas will continue to grow organically and through strategic partnerships, joint ventures, as well as mergers and acquisitions to escalate performance.

Petronas executive vice-president of finance George Ratilal said the national oil corporation's balance sheet remains strong, with property, plant and equipment growing by 1.9 percent to RM185.2 billion as at Sept 30, 2010, mainly driven by expansion of exploration and production asset portfolio.

He said the downstream business segment remained the largest contributor at 42.6 percent of gross revenue.

- Bernama