China's top energy producer PetroChina posted a 2.3 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, partly due to higher natural gas output.

Profit attributable to owners of the company rose to 46.81 billion yuan ($6.44 billion) from 45.77 billion a year earlier, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed.

Revenue fell 7.3 percent to 753.1 billion yuan, it said.

The company said its total crude oil output increased 0.2 percent to 240.2 million barrels while gas output rose 1.2 percent to 1,361 billion cubic feet. The company processed 337.3 million barrels of crude meanwhile, or 3.75 million barrels per day, down 4.7 percent from a year earlier.

Total sales volumes of gasoline, kerosene and diesel fell 6.3 percent to 36.78 million metric tons, it said.