OREANDA-NEWS. August 24, 2012. Earnings from China Oil and Gas Group Ltd. (COG) and Shenzhen Gas Corp. Ltd. showed strong growth in the first half (H1) of 2012, indicating that booming Chinese demand for gas is helping distributors shrug off a deepening economic slowdown.

COG posted a 43 percent annual increase in net profit for H1, after sales of natural gas rose by nearly one-third over the same period. Shenzhen Gas, based in southern China’s Shenzhen City, attributed a 30.03 percent net profit increase to greater pipeline gas sales.