Investors focused on the Oils-Energy space have likely heard of PetroChina Company , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.

PetroChina Company is one of 251 individual stocks in the Oils-Energy sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. PTR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PTR's full-year earnings has moved 26.67% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, PTR has gained about 37.40% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Oils-Energy sector has returned an average of 22.19% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that PetroChina Company is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Breaking things down more, PTR is a member of the Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry, which includes 16 individual companies and currently sits at #63 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 29.16% so far this year, so PTR is performing better in this area.

Investors in the Oils-Energy sector will want to keep a close eye on PTR as it attempts to continue its solid performance.