The tough times for China’s oil companies appear likely to continue after two major oil drillers reported weak earnings Wednesday and said they saw little room for optimism for the rest of the year. PetroChina Co. PTR -1.02 % and offshore oil explorer Cnooc Ltd. CEO -2.28 % both predicted little chance of recovery in global oil prices in the second half of the year. The companies have been among the hardest hit in China from the commodities slump because of their exposure to fluctuations in global oil prices. China’s once-highflying oil companies have been hard hit by a double whammy: plunging prices that make each barrel they pump less profitable, and weaker demand at home for the refined products they make, such as gasoline. Cnooc Ltd. Chairman Yang Hua, shown in March, defended […]