China's largest oil and gas company, PetroChina Ltd., has announced that its profit for the first six months of 2010 increased by 29 percent as compared to 2009.

The company said that it posted profit on account of higher oil prices that helped to offset weaker margins in its refining biz.

In addition, the Beijing-based company said that the revenue in the first six months of this year was 65.3 billion yuan ($9.6 billion), up from of 50.5 billion yuan compared to 2009.

The oil company, with scrips traded in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai, is the world's most worthful company by market capitalization. It comes after Exxon Mobil Corp.

PetroChina’s profitability has jumped back from last year, when its total revenue dropped 9.7 percent because of weak demand and controls on prices for its processed products.

During the first six months of 2010, profits increased by 65 percent to 684.8 billion yuan ($100.6 billion), a growth of 415.3 billion yuan as compared to 2009.

The company said, “Crude oil production rose 1.7 percent over a year earlier to 424.7 million barrels, while natural gas output climbed nearly 13 percent to 1,153.1 billion cubic feet, or 210 million barrels of oil equivalent.”

The company added that in the first six months of the year, its production of overseas oil and natural gas equivalent grew by 8.3 percent to 55.2 million barrels.