PETROCHINA's net profit increased by 2% against the trend, with a 116% surge in renewable energy business as green transformation accelerates | Financial Report Insights

On March 30, PetroChina Company Limited released its annual report for the year ending December 31, 2024, showing that the company achieved an operating revenue of CNY 2.94 trillion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was CNY 164.684 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.0%, with basic earnings per share of CNY 0.90. The board of directors proposed a final dividend of CNY 0.25 per share for 2024, with a total dividend amount of approximately CNY 45.755 billion.

Against the backdrop of weak global energy demand and falling oil prices, PetroChina's performance in the 2024 fiscal year was commendable, achieving a record high net profit attributable to the parent company. Key economic indicators such as operating profit and free cash flow continued to maintain historical highs, demonstrating strong cost control capabilities and operational resilience.

It is noteworthy that while the company remains committed to its traditional oil and gas business, it is actively expanding into new energy sectors, with impressive performance in wind and solar power generation, significantly outpacing traditional businesses, accelerating its green and low-carbon transformation.

Steady Growth in Performance, Achieving Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement Amid Falling Oil Prices

In 2024, the average spot price of international Brent crude oil was USD 80.76 per barrel, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%; the average spot price of WTI medium crude oil was USD 75.87 per barrel, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%; the average realized price of PetroChina's crude oil was USD 74.70 per barrel, down 2.5% from USD 76.60 per barrel in the same period last year.

In the face of adverse external conditions, the company maintained stable development in its main business segments through in-depth implementation of quality improvement and efficiency enhancement, deepening reform and innovation, and strengthening risk prevention and control. By business segment:

Oil and Gas and New Energy Business: The company produced 941.8 million barrels of crude oil throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%, with domestic production of 777 million barrels, an increase of 0.4%; overseas production was 164.8 million barrels, an increase of 0.8%. The marketable natural gas production was 51.338 billion cubic feet, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%; the oil and gas equivalent production reached 1.7974 billion barrels, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%. The unit operating cost of oil and gas was USD 12.05 per barrel, a slight year-on-year increase of 0.8%, indicating significant cost control effectiveness.

Refining, Chemical, and New Materials Business: The company optimized its integrated refining and chemical operations, processing 1.3784 billion barrels of crude oil throughout the year, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5%. However, through product structure adjustments and capacity optimization, ethylene production reached 8.652 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%; synthetic resin production was 13.293 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%; synthetic fiber raw materials and polymer production was 1.165 million tons, an increase of 6.1%; and chemical new materials production was 2.045 million tons, a significant year-on-year increase of 49.3%, with a notable rise in high value-added product output

Sales Business: In the face of intensified competition in the domestic refined oil market, the company achieved gasoline, kerosene, and diesel sales of 159 million tons through refined marketing strategies and digital empowerment, a year-on-year decrease of 4.1%. By the end of 2024, the company had 22,441 gas stations, of which 20,429 were self-operated, covering most regions of the country, continuing to maintain the largest gas station network in the country.

Natural Gas Sales Business: The annual natural gas sales reached 287.753 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%, of which domestic sales were 227.833 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. The gross profit from natural gas sales reached 54.010 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%, becoming an important driver of the company's profit growth.

It is worth mentioning that in 2024, China Petroleum's international business developed steadily, with overseas contributions continuing to rise. Specifically:

In 2024, China Petroleum's overseas business achieved operating revenue of 963.781 billion yuan, accounting for 32.8% of total operating revenue; it achieved a pre-tax profit of 38.033 billion yuan, accounting for 15.7% of the group's pre-tax profit. The overseas upstream business achieved an oil and gas equivalent production of 194.2 million barrels, making new exploration breakthroughs in projects in Aktyubinsk, Indonesia, etc., successfully completing contracts for Suriname Block 14/15 and Oman Block 15, and advancing existing key projects in cooperation areas such as the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, America, and Asia-Pacific.

Significant Achievements in Green Transformation, Accelerating Diversified Energy Layout

Under the guidance of the national "dual carbon" strategy, China Petroleum actively lays out green low-carbon transformation, with outstanding performance in wind and solar power generation:

1. Rapid Growth of Wind and Solar Power Generation: In 2024, wind and solar power generation reached 4.72 billion kilowatt-hours, a substantial year-on-year increase of 116.2%; the newly added installed capacity for wind and solar power generation was 4.954 million kilowatts, and the newly signed geothermal heating contract area was 75.12 million square meters.

2. Accelerated Implementation of Clean Energy Projects: The first large-scale centralized wind power project in Jilin Oilfield and the first million-kilowatt-level photovoltaic power station in Golmud, Qinghai, were connected to the grid for power generation, and projects such as the 2.64 million kilowatt new energy and supporting coal power carbon capture integration in Karamay commenced construction.

3. Accelerated Development of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Across the Entire Industry Chain: Carbon capture and storage projects have been initiated in multiple oilfields, promoting the synergistic effect of carbon reduction and enhanced oil recovery.

Further Optimization of Financial Status, More Robust Capital Structure

As of December 31, 2024, PetroChina's total assets amounted to 2.75 trillion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.2% year-on-year; total liabilities were 1.04 trillion yuan, down 7.2% year-on-year; the debt-to-capital ratio was 12.2%, showing significant improvement compared to 15.1% at the end of the previous year. The company's free cash flow remained above 100 billion yuan, maintaining a robust financial condition.

The net cash flow generated from operating activities was 406.532 billion yuan, although it decreased by 11.0% year-on-year, it still accounted for a high proportion of revenue, reflecting the company's strong cash generation capability.

Future Outlook: Adhering to Green Development and Deepening Transformation and Upgrading

Looking ahead to 2025, the global economy is expected to maintain moderate growth, but inflation levels will continue to decline, and policy uncertainty will rise; the international oil and gas market demand will remain loose, and China's economy is expected to grow steadily, with an annual GDP growth forecast of around 5.0%.

PetroChina's Chairman Dai Houliang stated that the company will continue to uphold the value pursuit of "green development, contributing energy, empowering customer growth, and providing new energy for people's happiness," striving to achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth to better reward shareholders with improved performance.

According to the annual report plan, the company plans to produce 936.2 million barrels of crude oil and 53.41 billion cubic feet of marketable natural gas in 2025, with a total oil and gas equivalent of 1.8266 billion barrels; the planned crude oil processing volume is 1.3309 billion barrels. Capital expenditures are expected to be 262.2 billion yuan, mainly used to promote oil and gas exploration and development and green low-carbon transformation project construction