State oil firm Petronas has posted a 20.6 percent rise in half-year net profit on the back of high oil prices.

Petronas said its net income to Sept 30 was at RM27.27 billion compared to RM22.6 billion in the same period last year.

Total revenue was RM88.85 billion compared to RM80.87 billion in the previous corresponding period, according to figures released on the company's website this week.

Higher crude oil prices due to strong demand from China and India, as well as uncertainties in the Middle East, saw Petronas post a record profit of RM47.68 billion for the year to March.

Listed in Fortune Global

Crude oil prices reached all time peaks above US$78 in July and August.

Petronas is the only Malaysian company to be listed in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest firms.

The company separately announced Thursday its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas International Corporation Limited had acquired 10 percent of Cairn India Limited, an oil and gas company.

The company is a unit of British-based Cairn Energy, an energy and procurement company listed on the London Stock Exchange.