Daily Newsletter

31 October 2023

Daily Newsletter

31 October 2023

PetroChina announces record third-quarter net profit

Demand for its oil is being driven by China’s macroeconomic recovery and international exports.

Alfie Shaw October 30 2023

PetroChina, Asia’s largest oil and gas producer, has reported a record-high third-quarter net profit, reflecting 21% year-on-year (YoY) growth. Increased production and improving domestic fuel demand has offset lower realised oil and gas prices.

In a stock filing on Monday, the company said net profit rose to 46.38bn yuan but revenue fell 4.6% to 802bn yuan.

Between January and September, crude oil output rose 4.3% to 706 million barrels, including 22% growth in overseas production to 122 million barrels. PetroChina did not specify which countries contributed to this growth.

Natural gas production was also up 6.1% to 3.66trn cubic feet.

PetroChina said: “The company seized the opportune timing of recovery in China’s macro economy and rebounds in oil and gas markets.”

The Chinese economy expanded 4.9% YoY in the third quarter despite a high comparative base in the corresponding quarter last year. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics earlier in October, the Chinese economy grew by 5.2% in the first three quarters of 2023. Such growth has fuelled domestic demand for PetroChina’s oil.

The Chinese company reported a realised oil price of $75.30 a barrel between January and September, down by 21% from the last year as global oil prices fell following the spike prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

PetroChina is also China’s second-largest refiner after Sinopec. Crude oil processing at the company rose 16.5% in the first nine months to 1.04 billion barrels, acting to meet recovering domestic fuel demand and exploiting a lucrative export business.

Quantum computers could transform oil and gas research

Although quantum computing is still in the R&D stage, its potential use cases in the oil and gas industry are numerous and are likely to expand. Oil majors, such as BP and ExxonMobil have joined IBM’s Q Network to develop quantum computers that will increase the understanding of subsurface geology. Companies are also looking at these computers to study molecular modeling and emission mitigation. Besides, the long-standing problems of matching demand with production and optimizing supply chains could be solved using quantum computing.

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