On April 29, PetroChina Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company", (HKEX stock code: 0857; Shanghai Stock Exchange stock code: 601857)) announced that in the first quarter of 2024, the company will coordinate production and operation, safety and environmental protection, quality and efficiency improvement, Reform and innovation and green transformation, continue to optimize production and operation and product structure, vigorously strengthen marketing, strictly control costs and expenses, the two major oil and gas industry chains operate safely, smoothly and efficiently, new energy and new materials and other emerging industries maintain a rapid development momentum, and the operating performance has hit a new record high in the same period in history. In accordance with IFRS, the Company achieved operating income of RMB812.18 billion, up 10.9% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of RMB45.68 billion, up 4.7% year-on-year, achieving a high-quality start to 2024.

Performance review

Persist in stabilizing oil and gas production, and oil and gas production has grown steadily. The company continued to increase oil and gas exploration and development, increase reserves and production, continuously optimized the structure of overseas oil and gas assets, and steadily increased oil and gas equivalent production, strengthened cost control and continuously improved cost competitiveness, and promoted the rapid development of new energy businesses such as wind and solar power generation, geothermal, and hydrogen energy. In the first quarter of 2024, the company produced 464 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent, up 2.6% year-on-year, including crude oil production of 240 million barrels, up 1.4% year-on-year, and saleable natural gas production of 1.34 trillion cubic feet, up 3.9% year-on-year. Domestic oil and gas equivalent production was 413 million barrels, up 2.6% year-on-year, of which crude oil production was 197 million barrels, up 0.9% year-on-year, and saleable natural gas production was 1.29 trillion cubic feet, up 4.2% year-on-year. The oil and gas and new energy business achieved an operating profit of 42.97 billion yuan.

Adhere to the direction of green and intelligent development, and achieve remarkable results in transformation and upgrading. The company continues to promote the adjustment, transformation and upgrading of the business structure, and continuously enhance the development momentum, strengthen the production and operation organization to ensure the safe, stable, long-term and optimized operation of the production equipment, strive to improve the processing load of the equipment, continue to optimize the product structure guided by market demand, and increase the production of high-efficiency products with refining characteristics and new chemical products and new materials. In the first quarter of 2024, the company processed 354 million barrels of crude oil, up 8.2% year-on-year, produced 30.482 million tons of refined oil, up 9.8% year-on-year, produced 2.27 million tons of ethylene, up 13.5% year-on-year, and 9.908 million tons of chemical products, up 16.7% year-on-year. The refining, chemical and new materials business achieved an operating profit of 8.12 billion yuan.

Strengthen the connection between production and marketing, and operate the industrial chain efficiently. The company coordinates the domestic and international markets, strengthens market analysis and judgment, does a good job in supply, production and marketing to ensure the efficient operation of the industrial chain, continuously increases marketing efforts, continuously optimizes network layout, strengthens high-end and efficient market development, and strives to improve marketing quality. In the first quarter of 2024, the company sold 39.258 million tons of refined oil, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, of which 28.545 million tons of refined oil were sold domestically, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. The sales and international trade of refined oil products achieved an operating profit of 6.76 billion yuan.

Continue to control the cost and expand the market, and the volume and efficiency of natural gas sales have increased. The company continued to optimize the structure of the imported natural gas resource pool, effectively controlled procurement costs, vigorously explored high-end and efficient markets, and strived to increase the proportion of direct supply and direct sales to customers and terminal markets, so as to achieve both the volume and efficiency of natural gas sales. In the first quarter of 2024, the company sold 83.369 billion cubic meters of natural gas, a year-on-year increase of 14.2%, of which 67.102 billion cubic meters of natural gas was sold domestically, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. The natural gas sales business achieved an operating profit of 12.32 billion yuan.

Future outlook

The company will continue to adhere to the five development strategies of innovation, resources, market, internationalization, and green and low-carbon, continue to optimize production and operation, further promote quality and efficiency improvement, realize the safe, stable and efficient operation of the two major oil and gas industry chains, maintain the rapid development momentum of emerging industries such as new energy and new materials, create long-term value with stakeholders, share the fruits of enterprise development, and give back to shareholders and investors with excellent performance.