PetroChina profit up at $4.82bln

Despite earning from producing 439.1 million barrels, oil producer still missed forecast.

PetroChina Co Ltd, the world's second-most valuable oil and gas producer after Exxon Mobil Corp, sees high oil prices lifting profit in the second half after second-quarter figures missed forecasts.

The company expects higher earnings for the rest of the year and should hit its 2010 production targets, its president Zhou Jiping told reporters in Hong Kong. Separately, PetroChina will also ramp up its efforts to increase its overseas presence.

Analysts cautioned, however, that oil prices would probably continue to trade in the $70-80 a barrel range and that PetroChina's oil production could flatten out, both of which could hold down its second-half profit.

"I think we'll continue to see earnings growth in the second half of 2010, but it will be slower than the gains we saw in the first half," said Neil Beveridge, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein.

China's largest oil producer and peers such as CNOOC Ltd have benefited from a 30 percent increase in crude oil prices in the second quarter.

View the full story in Reuters.