Fitch: Chinese gas companies thrive

Fitch Ratings said that China's three largest oil and gas companies - PetroChina Co. Ltd., (foreign-currency long-term issuer default rating of A with positive outlook), China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., also called Sinopec, (foreign-currency long-term issuer default rating of A- with stable outlook) and Cnooc Ltd., (foreign-currency long-term issuer default rating of A with stable outlook) - will continue to enjoy robust business in 2007.

The financial and operating performances of China's big three all have significantly improved in 2006, thanks to the increased gains from the exploration and production business, the agency said.

However, the agency noted that continuous substantial capital expenditure may cloud the big three's long term development if the vast capex cannot bring them correspondingly significant petroleum discoveries in the future. Nonetheless, Fitch said, despite the expected higher lifting costs in 2007, the overall strong credit profiles of the big three will prevail.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.