30 Mar 2023 | 07:27 UTC

PetroChina targets limited throughput growth despite capacity rise

Highlights

2022 refining profit up 9%

Oil, gas output to rise 3% to 4.7 mil boe/d

To cut capex by 11% on year to $35 bil

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The integrated PetroChina targets lifting crude throughput by 220,000 b/d on the year in 2023, despite commissioning its 400,000 b/d greenfield refinery amid domestic demand recovery and the company achieving refining profit in 2022, senior company executives said during its 2022 results briefing in Hong Kong March 30.

The limited throughput increase indicates overcapacity in the industry. It will also cap the oil giant's seaborne crude imports growth in 2023 as its targeted 0.3% gain in domestic crude production will meet 60% of its feedstock demand, on top of the steady Russian crude inflows via pipelines.

"As the economic stimulators gradually take effect, domestic oil and gas will recover rapidly. We expect refined oil product demand to be 3% above the level in 2019 (prior to COVID-19 outbreak), led by gasoline and jet fuel rebounds," Executive Director and President Huang Yongzhang said.

PetroChina targets processing 3.54 million b/d of crude in 2023, up 6.6%, or 220,000 b/d, year on year, according to Huang.

The increase is lower than the 400,000 b/d refining capacity added by the Guangdong Petrochemical refinery in February. The volume equals about 79% of utilization against its 4.49 million b/d primary capacity.

It remains 5.3% higher than PetroChina's throughput of 3.37 million b/d in 2019.

In comparison, Sinopec plans to boost throughput by 3.2%, or 156,000 b/d, to 5.03 million b/d in 2023.

PetroChina achieved a higher refining profit than most of its peers in China. Its operating profit rose 9.1% year on year to Yuan 41.17 billion ($5.99 billion). Sinopec's operating profit, however, fell 81.3% from 2022 to Yuan 12.21 billion, a company report showed.

PetroChina refineries in the northeast and northwest of China enjoy stable feedstock supplies from Russia via pipeline as its parent company CNPC has term deals with Rosneft to import about 800,000 b/d crude, comprising 200,000 b/d via Kazakhstan through the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline under a bilateral state agreement, and 600,000 b/d of ESPO Blend via the Skovorodino-Mohe pipeline.

As China's top crude producer, the company feeds its domestic output to the refining segment.

PetroChina targets to produce 2.11 million b/d of domestic crude in 2023, up 0.3% after a 1.9% year-on-year rise in 2021, according to Huang.

Globally, the company plans to produce 4.73 million boe/d of oil and gas in 2023, up 2.5% from realized output of 4.62 million boe/d in 2022. Natural gas will lead the year-on-year increase, and is targeted to rise 4.6% year on year to 4.89 Tcf in 2023, while crude output is expected to rise 0.7% to 2.5 million b/d.

Green and low-carbon transition

Huang also said that the company is confident of boosting the proportion of renewable energy capacity to account for 7% of its primary energy output in 2025, and a third of PetroChina's energy production capacity mix by 2030, equaling oil and gas.

To reflect the new business focus, PetroChina renamed its upstream division to Oil, Gas and New Energy, while the refining sector is now called Refining, Chemicals and New Materials segment.

In 2022, its investment in new energy and new businesses rose 252% to Yuan 7.67 billion, according to Huang.

PetroChina's wind and solar power installed capacity exceeded 1,400 MW with 1,200 MW in newly installed capacity.

The company added 1,500 mt/year of new high purity hydrogen production capacity in 2022, with the total capacity reaching 3,000 mt/year. It launched 23 hydrogen service stations last year on top of the 12 existing retail outlets.

Its geothermal heating area reached 25 million sq meter with a 10.06 million sq meter increase in 2022.

Like Sinopec, PetroChina also targets lowering its 2023 budget and plans to spend Yuan 243.5 billion ($35.38 billion) for the year, down 11.2% from Yuan 274.3 billion in 2022.

Expenditure in its refining, chemical and new materials segment continued to see year-on-year decline, falling 18% to Yuan 34 billion in 2023. Capital expenditure in its oil, gas and new energy segment is estimated to fall 11.8% year on year to Yuan 195.5 billion.

PetroChina's capital expenditure

(Unit: billion Yuan)

2023 target 2022 YOY change 2021 YOY change
Oil, Gas and New Energy 195.50 221.59 -11.8% 178.26 24.3%
Refining, Chemicals and New Materials 34.00 41.77 -18.6% 54.49 -23.3%
Marketing 7.00 5.07 38.1% 10.98 -53.8%
Natural Gas Sales 6.00 4.94 21.6% 6.75 -26.9%
Head Office and Other 1.00 0.94 6.5% 0.70 34.1%
Total 243.50 274.31 -11.2% 251.18 9.2%

PetroChina's 2023 operation targets

Unit 2023 target 2022 YOY change 2021 YOY change 2022 target
Crude oil output* mil barrel 912.9 906.2 0.7% 887.9 2.1% 898.6
Domestic crude oil output mil barrel 770.0 767.4 0.3% 753.4 1.9% 759.3
Natural gas output* Bcf 4,888.9 4,675.0 4.6% 4,420.0 5.8% 4,625.1
Domestic gas output Bcf 4,696.0 4,471.3 5.0% 4,222.2 5.9% 4,432.6
Oil & gas equivalent output* mil boe 1,727.7 1,685.4 2.5% 1,624.8 3.7% 1,669.7
Crude throughput mil barrel 1,293.1 1,212.7 6.6% 1,225.0 -1.0% 1,269.4
Capital expenditure bil Yuan 243.5 274.3 -11.2% 251.2 9.2% 242.0

* Oil, gas output from both domestic and overseas

PetroChina's domestic production

(Unit: million mt)

2022 China 2022 ^share in China 2021 YoY vol Change
Natural gas (Bcm) 126.61 217.79 58.1% 119.56 5.9%
Crude oil 103.86 204.67 50.7% 101.96 1.9%
Refinery throughput 164.12 675.90 24.3% 165.79 -1.0%
Gasoline 43.51 145.36 29.9% 49.39 -11.9%
Gasoil 53.65 191.26 28.1% 48.25 11.2%
Jet/Kerosene 8.19 29.49 27.8% 11.08 -26.1%

^ PetroChina's share of China's total production

PetroChina's domestic oil product sales volume

(Unit: million mt)

2022 2021 Change
Gasoline 44.28 52.63 -15.9%
Gasoil 55.41 50.86 8.9%
Jet fuel 5.47 9.01 -39.3%
Total 105.16 112.49 -6.5%

Source: Company report, National Bureau of Statistics