Cnooc Revenue Up 6.9% on Year

HONG KONG-- Cnooc Ltd., China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer by output, on Tuesday said first-quarter oil and gas revenue jumped 6.9% from a year earlier, thanks mainly to strong growth in overseas output.

State-controlled Cnooc said oil and gas revenues for the three months ended March 31 rose to 59.15 billion yuan ($9.5 billion), from 55.31 billion yuan a year earlier, despite lower selling prices for crude oil. The company didn't release first-quarter net profit figures.

Net crude oil and natural gas output rose 15.5% in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier, helped by an increase in production from countries including the U.S.

Hong Kong-listed Cnooc, which still produces more oil and gas at home than abroad despite aggressive overseas asset purchases, said in January it is maintaining its 2011-2015 compounded annual output growth projection at 6%-10%. It paid $15.1 billion last year for Canada's Nexen Inc. and its large international portfolio of oil and gas assets, in what was China's largest overseas acquisition.

The average selling price of its crude oil fell 5.1% in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year as global oil prices weakened.

Barclays is upbeat about the company's outlook, noting in an April 16 report that the company bought its first domestic deep water gas field, Liwan-3, into production at the end of March, that with as many as 10 projects coming on line later in 2014, these could increase its output capacity by 170,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent this year alone.

Cnooc is planning to drill 155 exploration wells this year, including in deep-water areas of the South China Sea. The company has been growing its technical skills including by working with Husky Energy Inc. to develop the Liwan field.

Write to Wayne Ma at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires