PetroChina Profit Declines by 73% YoY from Q1 to Q3 2020

Thanks to recovering oil prices, Asia’s leading oil and gas producer PetroChina had a blockbuster Q3 2020. The oil giant had a 350% surge in profit during the three-month period.

Net income for the period was 40.05 billion yuan ($6 billion), up from 8.86 billion yuan in Q3 2019. It was a remarkable change from Q2 2020 when it reported a loss of 13.75 billion yuan as a result of plummeting oil prices.

However, according to the research data analyzed and published by the Finnish website Sijoitusrahastot, for the first nine months of 2020, its profit fell by a massive 73% year-over-year (YoY) to 10.07 billion yuan. The company processed a total of 877.73 million barrels of crude oil in the period. That was a decline of 3.2% from a similar period in 2019.

During the same nine-month period, crude oil production increased by 2.7% to reach 701 million barrels. Total gas output, on the other hand, surged 6.5% to reach 3,080 billion cubic feet.

The increase was in response to a national call to boost national energy security. Consequently, its domestic operation, which accounts for 94% of its total output, rose by 8.2% YoY. At the same time, operations on overseas projects dropped by 16%.

Sinopec Revenue Down by 28%, CNOOC by 27%

The situation was similar with other major oil players as their overall performance showed the huge impact of the pandemic on the oil industry.

For China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation SNP (Sinopec), earnings per American Depositary Receipt (ADR) shot up from $1.41 in Q3 2019 to $5.54 in Q3 2020.

However, its revenue sank by 28.2% YoY. In the nine-month period which ended on September 30, 2020, it reduced crude oil production by 1% to 210.65 million barrels. The company’s domestic oil production levels remained flat but overseas production fell by 8.2% to 23.96 million barrels.

During the same period, Sinopec’s average realized oil price fell to a low of $38.24 per barrel. Comparatively, in the year-ago period, it was $58.82. Similarly, realized natural gas price fell by 14.1% to $5.32 from $6.19.

Due to the reduction in production and realized oil prices, there was a segmental operating loss of 6.48 billion yuan. Comparatively, in 2019, it had an operating profit of 8.72 billion yuan.

On the other hand, for state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), Q3 2020 revenue fell by 26.8% YoY to 35.55 billion yuan.

According to its earnings report, the company cited weak oil prices as the reason behind the drop. There was a decline of 29% in realized oil prices to $43.03 per barrel in the three-month period.

During the period, it also had a 10.4% growth in production at home in response to the national urge to bolster supply security. As a result, its total net production surged 5.1% to 131.2 million barrels.

Shell Raises Dividend by 4% to $16.65 in Q3 2020

Looking beyond China, the situation is not much different. Royal Dutch Shell, the biggest trader of Liquified Natural Gas globally, raised its dividend to shareholders by 4% to $16.65. This came after the company posted better than expected results in Q3 2020.

Following a dramatic plunge in oil prices amid the pandemic, the oil major had slashed dividends in April 2020 for the first time since the Second World War.

Adjusted earnings for the three-month period totaled $955 million, compared to $638 million in Q2 2020. Over a similar period in 2019, Shell’s net profit amounted to $4.77 billion. According to Refinitiv, analysts’ expectation for Q3 2020 was $594 million in net profit.

Exxon Mobil, the top energy company in America, also posted better than expected results during Q3 2020. It was, however, the company’s third straight quarter of posting losses.

Revenue totaled $46.2 billion, down by almost 30% YoY. It had a loss of $680 million during the quarter, equivalent to 18 cents per share. According to Refinitiv, the expected loss per share was 25 cents and the expected revenue was $46.01 billion.

That was a significant improvement over Q2 2020 when revenue totaled $32.61 billion and the loss per share was 70 cents. Comparatively, in Q3 2019, the company posted $65.05 billion in revenue and 75 cents EPS.

Moreover, Exxon maintained its Q4 2020 dividend at 87 cents per share. However, this was the first time since 1982 that it did not increase the payout. According to research firm Edward Jones, there is a risk that it may have to cut the dividend in 2021 if demand fails to recover.

Exxon had a rough Q3, losing its position on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in August. And for a period, Chevron overtook it to become the most valuable US energy company by market cap.