PetroChina makes $3bn profit, plans higher crude runs

Profit at China's biggest energy firm state-controlled PetroChina fell by 58pc to 19bn yuan ($2.94bn) last year, a result the company described as "better than expected" given the impact of Covid-19.

Total crude throughputs at PetroChina's refineries were 3.22mn b/d last year, down by 4.1pc from 2019, with average capacity utilisation dropping to 79.9pc from 85.1pc. The company plans to raise throughputs to 3.42mn b/d this year.

Gasoline, diesel and jet-kerosine output all fell last year. The average sales price for gasoline was Yn5,561/t ($100.50/bl), down by 14.3pc from 2019. Diesel and jet-kerosine prices averaged Yn4,221/t and Yn2,652/t, drops of 20.1pc and 37.7pc respectively.

PetroChina's domestic crude production edged up by 0.6pc from a year earlier to 743.8mn bl (2.03mn b/d) in 2020, while natural gas output rose by 9.9pc to 113bn m³. The company has set a target for its total crude output, including overseas production, to rise by 0.2pc to 2.53mn b/d this year, with gas to rise by 3.2pc to 123.3bn m³.

Domestic natural gas sales fell by 4pc to 172.6bn m³ last year. PetroChina made a net loss of Yn14.16bn on sales of imported gas, compared with a loss of Yn30.7bn a year earlier. It booked a Yn98bn cash gain from its spin-off of pipeline assets to newly formed PipeChina, but its earnings from pipeline tariffs shrank by Yn11bn after the deal.

PetroChina's capital expenditure (capex) plan for 2021 has been set at Yn239bn or $37bn, down by 3pc from actual spending last year. It plans to invest 73.3pc of its capex in upstream exploration and production, including key projects in the Songliao, Erdos, Tarim, Sichuan and Bohai basins, and to push ahead with shale gas and shale oil developments, as well as clean energy projects.

PetroChina expects China's total natural gas consumption to reach 350bn m³ this year, up by 8.7pc from 2020. Demand will reach an estimated 420-440bn m³ by 2025, an average growth rate of 5.7pc/yr, as China looks to the fuel to help peak its emissions, the company said.

PetroChina has set its own gas output target at 150-160bn m³/yr by 2025, from 130.6bn m³ last year. It is aiming for domestic gas sales — including LNG and pipeline gas imports — to hit 250-260bn m³ by 2025, keeping its share of China's total gas consumption at around 60pc.

The natural gas sector is a "value creator and growth driver" and a key part of PetroChina's efforts to achieve low-carbon development, company director Huang Yongzhang said. PetroChina is also seeking joint-venture opportunities in the new energy sector, the company said.