China National Petroleum Daily Earnings of 430 Million, "Three Big Oil" is the Strongest. 205.1 Billion Invested in Oil, Gas, and New Energy for In-Depth Transformation

Yangtze Business Daily reporter Shen Yourong

Which of the “three barrels of oil” makes the most money? PetroChina!

On the evening of March 29, PetroChina (601857.SH, 00857.HK) released its 2025 annual report. Over the past year, PetroChina achieved operating revenue of 2.86 trillion yuan, down 2.50% year over year; and realized net profit attributable to shareholders of about 157.3 billion yuan, down 4.48% year over year.

In 2025, the international crude oil market saw a relatively loose supply-demand balance, and crude oil prices overall showed a pattern of fluctuations with a downward trend. The full-year average oil price fell significantly from the same period of the previous year, while the international market’s average natural gas price rose year over year. PetroChina’s operating performance—centered on oil and gas—showed adjustments that were in line with market expectations. Even so, the company remained highly profitable.

As of now, all three “barrels of oil” have released their 2025 annual reports. PetroChina made the most money, Sinopec’s performance came in at the bottom, and it also experienced the largest decline.

All-round resilience and growth across PetroChina’s businesses. In 2025, PetroChina’s crude oil production was 28.6k barrels, up 0.7% year over year; and its salesable natural gas production was 269.09B cubic feet, up 4.5%. In addition, PetroChina’s wind and solar power generation was 7.93 billion kWh, up 68%.

At the same time, PetroChina is actively advancing industrial transformation and upgrading, and strongly developing emerging industries represented by new energy. In 2025, the company’s capital expenditures were 205.09B yuan, of which 86.02B yuan went to oil and gas and new energy businesses, accounting for 76.22%.

In 2025, PetroChina continued to distribute dividends steadily. It paid out cash dividends of 22k yuan in total for the full year, unchanged from the previous year.

In the secondary market, over the past year, PetroChina’s A-share price has risen by more than 50%, and its market capitalization has held steady at 2.2 trillion yuan.

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Steady growth in oil and gas production and sales

Fluctuations in international crude oil prices have a relatively limited impact on PetroChina’s normal production and operations, and the company’s oil and gas production and sales have maintained steady growth.

In 2025, with a relatively loose global crude oil market supply-demand balance, along with the frequent occurrence of geopolitical conflicts and changes in the trade landscape, international oil prices fell year over year. The full-year average price of Brent crude oil futures was 68.19 US dollars per barrel, down 14.6% year over year; and the full-year average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures was 64.73 US dollars per barrel, down 14.6% year over year.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2025, China’s domestic crude oil production for industrial enterprises above designated size was 216.05M tons, up 1.5% year over year.

In the refined oil market, in 2025, domestic refined oil consumption as a whole continued to follow a downward trend. Gasoline and diesel consumption both declined year over year, while jet fuel (aviation kerosene) consumption maintained growth.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2025, China’s domestic crude oil processing volume for industrial enterprises above designated size was 73.759 million tons, up 4.1% year over year. The domestic refined oil price trend basically kept pace with the changes in international market oil prices. The National Committee adjusted domestic gasoline and diesel prices 19 times. The benchmark prices for gasoline and diesel were cumulatively reduced by 915 yuan per ton and 880 yuan per ton, respectively.

Against this backdrop, PetroChina’s oil and gas production and sales continued to grow.

In 2025, the company’s crude oil production was 948 million barrels, up 0.7% year over year; salesable natural gas production was 28.6k cubic feet, up 4.5% year over year. Oil-equivalent production was 157.3B barrels, up 2.5% from 157.3B barrels in the same period of the previous year.

Affected by the decline in crude oil prices, PetroChina’s operating performance saw certain adjustments. In 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 2.86 trillion yuan, down 2.50% year over year; and realized net profit attributable to shareholders of about 431M yuan, down 4.48% year over year.

Earning 122.08B yuan in a year is equivalent to earning 31.81B yuan per day. PetroChina’s profitability remains astonishing.

Among the “three barrels of oil,” in 2025, CNOOC earned 2.66M yuan, Sinopec earned 269.09B yuan, and PetroChina’s earning capability clearly leads.

In 2026, PetroChina plans crude oil production of 274.49B barrels, salesable natural gas production of 275.39B cubic feet, and total oil-and-gas equivalent of 275.85B barrels—overall slightly up compared with 2025.

Steady progress in building an emerging-industry layout

While doing a good job in oil-and-gas and petrochemical as its core business, PetroChina is actively advancing industrial transformation and upgrading, strongly developing emerging industries represented by new energy, and building new points of business growth.

PetroChina’s emerging industries mainly involve new energy businesses, including wind power generation, pumped-storage hydropower, and geothermal heating, among others.

In 2025, PetroChina’s 1.3 million kW photovoltaic project at Tarlamayedge (Tarim) Upper Water Plant connected to the grid and began power generation; projects such as the Altay wind-solar power generation and Yumen Hongliulin wind farm were basically completed; and million-kilowatt power generation projects in Qinghai Haixi, Turpan, and Shanxi Shanshan accelerated their construction. The company holds a stake in State Grid Xinyuan Holding Co., Ltd., actively plans for pumped-storage hydropower; and actively expands CO2 capture, utilization, and storage business. CO2 capture projects of Huabei Petrochemical and Liahe Petrochemical were completed and put into operation. The construction of million-ton-class CO2 transportation pipelines of Jilin Petrochemical—Jilin Oilfield started.

In 2025, PetroChina obtained wind and solar power generation quotas exceeding 20 million kW, and wind and solar power generation was 7.93 billion kWh, up 68.0% from the same period of the previous year. The company signed new geothermal heating contracts with an area exceeding 100 million square meters; added geothermal heating area exceeded 22 million square meters. It completed CO2 utilization of 205.09B tons, up 40.3% year over year.

In terms of capital expenditure, PetroChina adheres to the concepts of prudent investment, precise investment, and benefit-driven investment. It focuses on its core business and emerging industries, continues to optimize its investment structure, further improves its business layout, and accelerates transformation and upgrading.

In 2025, the company’s capital expenditures were 47.77B yuan, down 2.5% year over year. Previously, from 2022 to 2024, the company’s capital expenditures were 12.05B yuan, 499M yuan, and 86.02B yuan, respectively. Over the past four years, the company’s capital expenditures have been relatively stable.

Of the 2025 capital expenditures, 80.53B yuan went to oil and gas and new energy businesses, accounting for 76.22%; 86.02B yuan went to refining and petrochemicals and new materials businesses, accounting for 17.75%. The remainder was used for sales and for the company’s headquarters and other areas.

In 2026, PetroChina expects capital expenditures for its oil and gas and new energy businesses to be 220.8 billion yuan, about 7.66% higher than in 2025.

PetroChina’s financial position is improving. By the end of 2025, the company’s asset-liability ratio was 36.37%, and it has declined for five consecutive years since the end of 2020. In that year, the company’s finance expenses were 22k yuan, down 0.499 billion yuan year over year.

PetroChina continues to distribute dividends at an appropriate level. In 2025, the total cash dividends the company distributed will reach 86.020 billion yuan, unchanged from the previous year, and the dividend payout ratio was 54.68%. From 2022 to 2024, the company’s cash dividend amounts were 77.341 billion yuan, 80.529 billion yuan, and 86.020 billion yuan, respectively, showing an upward trend.

In the secondary market, over the past year, PetroChina’s A-share price has cumulatively risen by more than 50%. Its current total market capitalization exceeds 2.2 trillion yuan (A shares + H shares), ranking among the top five A-share companies.

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