China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has reported an attributable net profit of Y33.88bn ($4.63bn) in the third quarter of 2023, an 8.1% decline year on year (YoY).

Basic earnings per share during the three months under review was Y0.71.

The Chinese oil company’s revenue in the third quarter increased by 5.5% to Y114.75bn from Y108.79bn during the year-ago quarter.

Oil and gas sales during the quarter that ended 30 September 2023 was Y86.71bn, a 2.8% decline YoY. Specifically, the sales of crude and liquids fell 4% while natural gas saw an increase of 6.4%.

Net production in Q3 2023 was up 7% in comparison with the same period in 2022 to 167.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe).

Production from domestic operations was reported at 114.3mboe, a 6.9% increase from 106.9mboe in the third quarter of 2022.

Overseas production was also up by 7.2% to 53.5mboe in the latest quarter from 49.9mboe in Q3 2022.

CNOOC has adjusted its capex budget to Y120-130bn from Y100-110bn to support reserves and growth in production.

In the nine months, CNOOC’s revenue fell marginally by 1.4% to Y306.81bn from Y311.14bn in the same period of 2022.

CNOOC made eight discoveries and successfully appraised 21 oil and gas-bearing traps during the nine months.

CNOOC CEO and president Zhou Xinhuai said: "In the first three quarters, the company achieved better-than-expected operating results. Oil and gas reserves and production reached a new high. Going forward, the Company will push forward the tasks resolutely, and strive to meet the full-year targets."

This week, CNOOC discovered a coalbed methane (CBM) field, which has an estimated proven geological reserves of over 100 billion cubic meters of gas.