According to Lead Capital Partners, PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer, has posted an almost 70% plunge in net profits for 2015. Coming in at 35.5bn yuan or $5.46bn, the figure was in keeping with guidance the company had given earlier.

Like most other large oil companies, PetroChina has been a casualty of the protracted slump in oil prices caused by the glut in global supply. Some of the world’s biggest names including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Petrobras, Petronas and BP have announced plans to reduce capital expenditure on exploration while many have cut thousands of jobs in order to streamline operations.

“Oil companies and miners have been the most visible victims of this rout in commodities but there’s no denying that the bottom is in for oil prices,” said David Eckhart, chief market strategist at Lead Capital Partners.

“That won’t be much comfort to the people who’ve lost their jobs in the energy sector cull last year but, for investors, it could be a very shrewd time to take a view on big oil.”

PetroChina is one of the biggest oil companies in the world with profits last year of 107.17bn yuan or more than $15bn. Global demand for oil is only rising marginally but, currently, the world is producing nearly 2 million barrels a day more than it needs thanks largely to a battle for market share between OPEC and other producers in the US and Russia.

“Lead Capital Partners sees demand picking up very slowly but the greater efficiencies that have resulted from the layoffs and capex cuts makes these oil companies far more attractive to investors,” concluded Eckhart.

About Lead Capital Partners:
Lead Capital Partners is an independent investment management practice founded on the philosophy that an active, opportunistic and adaptable approach to investing provides our clients with the best chance for the realization of long-term positive returns irrespective of prevailing market environments.
It is our firm belief that the “buy and hold” investment strategy that has traditionally served investors to such great effect over the decades can, now, lead to significant losses in bear markets, or to little or no profit in markets that persist in trading in ranges unless they are actively managed by seasoned professionals such as those at Lead Capital Partners.