By Chen Aizhu
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -CNOOC Ltd on Thursday reported a
11.4% growth in 2024 net profit on record oil and gas output despite weaker oil prices.
The offshore oil and gas specialist posted a net profit of 137.9 billion yuan ($18.99 billion) in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.
This is CNOOC’s second-highest profit on record. Domestic rival Sinopec Corp’s on Sunday reported net income that fell 16.8% to 50.3 billion yuan.
CNOOC’s oil and gas output rose 7.2% to a record 726.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), meeting the high end of its target.
Historically one of the industry’s lower-cost explorers and producers, the company’s all-in production cost held steadily low at $28.52 per boe, compared to $28.83 in 2023.
Capital expenditure totalled 130.2 billion yuan last year, up versus about 128 billion in 2023.
Proven reserves totalled 7.27 billion boe as of the end of 2024, also a record high, and the reserve replacement ratio stood at 167%. The reserve life remained at 10 years.
“Reserves are the cornerstone of our development. We adhered to the philosophy of value-driven exploration and targeted
at large and medium-sized oil and gas fields,” the company said.
CNOOC remains a top contributor to China’s domestic oil production growth as state-owned oil companies tackle geologically more challenging and more costly resources such as shale oil to counter a steep decline at mature basins.
The company maintained a focus on developing natural gas, including major projects such as the phase-2 of deepsea Shenhai-1 in the South China Sea.
It made a total of 10 oil and gas discoveries such as deepwater Lingshui 36-1 gas field in the South China Sea and deep-reservoir coal bed methane project – Shenfu – in northern China.
Net production overseas expanded 10.8% thanks to projects, including in Guyana and Canada, outpacing output growth of 5.6% from offshore China.
Globally the company was awarded in 2024 contracts for 10 blocks in Mozambique, Brazil and Iraq, and was operator for seven of them.
CNOOC continues to “dynamically review” and “optimise” assets in the face of growing geopolitical uncertainties, management told an earnings call following the results.
When asked if CNOOC would consider divesting its onshore shale oil asset in the U.S. following the sale of Gulf of Mexico assets, CNOOC said this has not come on to the management’s review agenda.
CNOOC also declared a final dividend of HK$0.66 per share for 2024.
($1 = 7.2635 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Chen AizhuEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Jane Merriman)
