PetroChina Posts 21.9% Growth in Nine-Month Profit to 155.78 Billion Yuan
Key Facts
PetroChina’s net profit rose 21.9% in the first nine months of 2026 to 155.78 billion yuan, while revenue increased 7% to 2.32 trillion yuan, Reuters reported. In the third quarter alone, revenue rose 10.4% to 793.573 billion yuan, compared with 719.042 billion yuan a year earlier, according to data reported by RTTNews. Reuters attributed the quarter’s profit growth to higher oil and gas prices. The results show a divergence between improved revenue and profitability on one hand, and declines in some production, refining and fuel sales volumes on the other. PetroChina was the first of China’s three major energy companies to report third-quarter results.
Crude prices provided important support for performance during the period: the company said its average realized crude oil price rose 18.5% to $77.65 per barrel in the first nine months, according to Dow Jones. But crude output reached 698.6 million barrels, down 2.2% year over year, including 590.4 million barrels produced domestically, Reuters reported. Oil and gas equivalent production from overseas operations also fell 10% from the same period, which the company attributed to the geopolitical situation, according to Dow Jones coverage. This means the rise in realized prices coincided with a contraction in crude output, while Reuters linked profit gains to higher oil and gas prices. Improved prices did not prevent declines in other refining and fuel-marketing indicators.
Refining volumes fell 3.7% to 1,002.2 million barrels in the first nine months, averaging 3.67 million barrels per day, Reuters reported. Combined sales of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel declined 5.1% to 114.66 million tonnes. Domestically, diesel sales fell 8.2% and gasoline sales 4.3%, according to the same report. By contrast, ethylene output rose 26.4% to 8.46 million tonnes, adding a different trend to the picture of the company’s operations. Sellable natural gas output also increased 2.3% to 4,069.4 billion cubic feet, while domestic gas sales rose 1% to 178.7 billion cubic meters. These figures show mixed performance, with gas and ethylene on one side and refining and conventional fuel sales on the other.
On investment, capital expenditure totaled 159.4 billion yuan in the first nine months, compared with 177.5 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier, Reuters reported. This came as China’s National Energy Administration called on oil and gas companies to step up investment and exploration, targeting stable growth in crude output and rapid growth in natural gas production. Representatives of PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC attended the meeting, Reuters reported. In its 2026 annual report, the company sets targets of producing 941.3 million barrels of crude and 5,470.5 billion cubic feet of sellable natural gas. It also targets processing 1,377.1 million barrels of crude during the year. CNOOC and Sinopec are due to report their results later in the week, according to Dow Jones.