By Kimberley Kao
Chinese state-controlled oil company PetroChina said its annual profit rose to a record due to lower operating expenses, but revenue fell on weaker oil prices.
PetroChina, the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., posted an 8.3% jump in net profit to 161.15 billion yuan ($22.29 billion), which the company said Monday was a "historical high." The result was slightly short of the CNY161.66 billion profit expected in a FactSet poll of analysts.
The Chinese oil major said revenue was CNY3.011 trillion, down 7.0% from 2022, missing a FactSet estimate of CNY3.135 trillion. PetroChina attributed the revenue decline primarily to lower prices of oil and gas products despite higher sales volume.
The group's average realized price for crude oil fell 17% to $76.60 a barrel last year, the company said.
In 2024, PetroChina expects China's economy to maintain the "trend of long-term improvement." Domestic supply and demand for refined products will increase while competition will remain fierce, it said, adding that demand in the natural-gas market will likely maintain "rapid growth momentum." PetroChina targets crude oil output of 909.2 million barrels for 2024.
Two other major Chinese oil producers, Sinopec and Cnooc, reported lower net profit and revenue in 2023 amid weaker crude prices.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-25-24 0659ET
