(Yicai Global) March 30 -- PetroChina and China National Offshore Oil Corp., two of China’s three biggest oil and gas enterprises, posted their highest-ever profit in 2022 on the back of surging international crude oil and gas prices.

PetroChina recorded a 62 percent leap in net profit in 2022 from the year before to CNY149.4 billion (USD21.7 billion), according to its latest financial report released yesterday. Revenue jumped 24 percent to CNY3.2 trillion (USD464.6 billion). The Beijing-based firm has already announced that it will be dishing out CNY40.3 billion in dividends, equivalent to CNY0.22 (USD0.03) per share.

While CNOOC’s profit doubled to CNY141.7 billion, also an all-time high, and revenue surged 72 percent to CNY422.2 billion, according to its earnings report also published yesterday.

The price of crude oil peaked in the middle of last year and then began to tumble. The Brent Crude Oil spot price was USD101.32 a barrel on average last year, up 42.9 percent from a year ago, and the West Texas Intermediate spot price was USD94.54 a barrel on average, a jump of 38.8 percent.

Demand for refined oil products, though, dropped and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., another of the Big Three and also known as Sinopec, logged a 7 percent drop in net profit to CNY66.3 billion (USD9.6 billion), it said in its annual report published on March 26. Revenue soared 21 percent to CNY3.3 trillion (USD479.5 billion).

Revenue from Sinopec’s petroleum refining department plunged 81.3 percent to CNY12.2 billion largely due to rising costs and weak demand despite the higher oil prices, it said. Its chemicals department posted losses of CNY14.1 billion due to the higher costs of raw materials and fuel.

Demand for refined oil products only gained 0.9 percent last year from the year before to 345 million tons, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The three oil majors all saw their stocks gain today. PetroChina’s share price [SHA:601857] closed up 6.9 percent at CNY6 (USD0.87) apiece, CNOOC’s stock [SHA:600938] finished the day ahead 1.7 percent at CNY17.15 (USD2.49) and Sinopec [SHA:600028] advanced 2.3 percent to end the day at CNY5.60 (USD0.81).

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor