China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the controlling shareholder of PetroChina, reported sharp earning declines for the first quarter (Q1), with the revenue shrinking 14.4 percent to around 509.1 billion yuan (around 72.71 billion U.S. dollars), citing the tumbled global economy and the plummeting international oil prices as causes.

Net losses attributable to shareholders reached 16.23 billion yuan, compared with a profit of 10.25 billion yuan in the same period of last year, according to a quarterly report of the company filed to the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

The losses came after the COVID-19 outbreak significantly slashed market demand and weighed on industrial chains, the report said.

Aside from the epidemic's impacts, the global oil rout was another major cause for the profit contraction of the company, with the Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices nosediving by 73.25 percent and 66.53 percent by the end of the Q1, respectively.

Noting the company is facing unprecedented pressure, CNPC Chairman Dai Houliang said the convergence of two black-swan events – the novel coronavirus epidemic and global oil price slumps – has hit both the supply and demand of the oil and natural gas markets, pushing the company to trim spending this year.

Facing the grim situation, the company will strengthen the coordination of industrial chains, tighten regulations on costs and deepen the market-oriented reform to keep the operation running in an orderly manner, the report said.

The share price of CNPC stood at 4.44 yuan apiece on April 30, the last trading day before China's May Day holiday.