Chinese oil majors notch up record income

Chinese oil giants CNOOC (0883) and PetroChina (0857) both reported record annual profits last year thanks to a global spike in energy prices.

CNOOC's net income doubled to 141.7 billion yuan (HK$161.6 billion) for 2022 and recommended a final dividend of 75 HK cents.

Earnings were boosted as the firm's oil price in 2022 averaged 42 percent more than the previous year, and by higher output as China's top suppliers ramped up domestic production to meet the government's goal of trimming reliance on fuel imports.

Revenue soared by 71.6 percent year-on-year to 422.2 billion yuan, of which, oil and gas sales jumped 58.9 percent to 353 billion yuan. Combined oil and gas output rose 8.9 percent to a record.

China's biggest offshore oil and gas driller said annual capital expenditure will be between 100 billion yuan and 110 billion yuan this year, and it will lift output to between 650 million and 660 million barrels of oil equivalent or BOE. Capital expenditure was about 102.5 billion yuan last year and net production was 624 million BOE.

"The global need for oil and gas is anticipated to increase further, with China's demand for these commodities particularly promising for the company's future growth," CNOOC said in a filing.

Nine new projects are scheduled to be commissioned in 2023, It added.

Its rival PetroChina's net profit jumped 62 percent to a record 149.4 billion yuan with a final dividend of 22 fens.

Revenue for the year also increased by 23.9 percent to 3.24 trillion yuan as prices of most of its oil and gas products climbed.

Crude production in 2022 rose 2.1 percent to 906.2 million barrels, while gas grew by 5.8 percent to 4.68 trillion cubic feet as the company responded to Beijing's call to boost domestic output to avoid any new energy crisis.

It plans to increase oil and gas output to an equivalent of 1.7 billion barrels this year from 1.69 billion barrels last year.

China's largest oil producer said its capital expenditure is forecast at 243.5 billion yuan in 2023, down from 274.3 billion yuan last year, and it will include a focus on lower-emission fuel sources as the firm aims to meet a target for clean energy to account for half its output by 2050. It is reviewing developments in sectors including geothermal energy and hydrogen.