(Yicai) March 26 -- PetroChina reported record high profit for a second year in a row after a fall in operating expenses offset lower revenue, making it the only one of China's three oil and gas majors to see net profit increase last year.

Net profit rose 8.3 percent to CNY161.1 billion (USD22.2 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the Beijing-based firm said in an earnings report yesterday. Operating revenue fell 7 percent to CNY3.01 trillion (USD417.1 billion), less than the drop in product prices, while operating expenses fell 8.2 percent to CNY2.78 trillion.

The average price of PetroChina's natural gas dropped 23 percent to CNY2,076 (USD290) per ton in 2023, while that of its crude oil fell 13.2 percent to CNY4,030 per ton. But its sales of oil jumped 19.4 percent to 150 million tons, natural gas rose 5.1 percent to 2.7 million tons, and gasoline climbed 15.3 percent to 67.1 million tons.

Oil and gas equivalent production tallied 1.8 billion barrels, up 4.4 percent from 2022, while processed crude oil jumped 15.3 percent to 1.4 billion barrels.

State-owned PetroChina will produce 909 million barrels of oil this year, and have total oil and gas equivalent production of 1.8 billion barrels. It also plans to process 1.4 billion barrels of crude oil.

PetroChina's debt-to-assets ratio fell 1.7 percentage point to a 13-year low of 41 percent as of the end of last year. Its gearing ratio was 15.2 percent, down 2.2 points, the lowest in 15 years. 

PetroChina’s peers China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, better known as Sinopec, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation saw their annual net profits decline. Sinopec’s fell 13 percent to CNY58.3 billion (USD8.1 billion), while operating revenue dipped 3 percent to CNY3.2 trillion. CNOOC’s profit fell 13 percent to CNY123.8 billion on revenue of CNY416.6 billion, down 1.3 percent. 

In Shanghai trading today, PetroChina’s shares [SHA: 601857] ended 0.8 percent down at CNY9.21 (USD1.28) apiece. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 0857] rose 0.6 percent to HKD6.50 (83 US cents).

Editor: Martin Kadiev