LNG

PetroChina posted a wider first-half overall net losses and falling revenues, including on imports of LNG and pipeline gas, but said it was optimistic for rest of 2020 on Chinese domestic demand.

The state-controlled Chinese major said in a Web-based earnings presentation that first-half net losses came to 29.98 billion Chinese yuan ($4.39Bln), of which the loss in the second quarter narrowed compared with the first quarter, “indicating a steady improvement in business” trends.

PetroChina is the Hong Kong-listed affiliate of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and has LNG project stakes in Mozambique and Canada.

The company said first-half revenues dropped to 929.04Bln yuan ($136.06Bln), representing a year-on-year decrease of 22.3 percent.

However, the Exploration and Production segment, one of the company’s four divisions, achieved an operating profit of 10.35Bln yuan ($1.51Bln).

The three other operating segments of the Group consist of Refining and Chemicals, Marketing and Natural Gas and Pipeline.

International operations do not constitute a separate operating segment of the Group.

The Marketing division recorded an operating loss of 12.89Bln yuan ($1.88Bln), while the Natural Gas and Pipeline segment achieved an operating profit of 14.37Bln yuan ($2.10Bln).

This was 21.5 percent lower that the 18.30Bln yuan ($2.68Bln) operating posted in the first six months of 2019.

PetroChina said sales volumes of imported natural gas and LNG recorded a net loss of 11.83Bln yuan ($1.73Bln), representing an increase in losses from last year of RMB631M yuan ($92.4M) in the six months..

“Under the influence of Covid-19 and the macroeconomic downturn, global natural gas market demand declined, while the international natural gas prices dropped across the world and LNG spot prices in Europe, America and Northeast Asia hit record lows,” said PetroChina.

PetroChina operates three important Chinese LNG import terminals at Dalian and Tangshan in the northeast of the country and at Rudong in the central Jiangsu province in the coastal area near Shanghai.

PetroChina additionally receives natural gas pipeline supplies from the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan as well Russia through CNPC.

“The growth of demand for domestic natural gas slowed down and output of natural gas continued to increase relatively rapidly, while the growth of imports of natural gas declined substantially,” it added.

PetroChina said that in the first half, the overall domestic consumption of natural gas amounted to 155.6 billion cubic metres, representing an increase of 4.2 percent compared with the same period of last year.

Domestic natural gas output amounted to 95.0 Bcm, an increase of 9.9 percent versus the same period last year.

It noted that first-half Chinese imports of natural gas, both pipeline and LNG, amounted to 66.7 Bcm, representing a rise of 3.3 percent compared with the first half of 2019.

PetroChina’s managing company CNPC now imports pipeline natural gas from Gazprom Power of Siberia project as well as LNG from projects such as the Yamal plant in Arctic Russia and from PetroChina LNG agreements.

The Chinese major is part of Royal Dutch Shell’s LNG Canada project under its own name PetroChina and has a stake in the Area 4 reserves in the Rovuma Basin offshore Mozambique with Italian company Eni and ExxonMobil.

PetroChina, the Hong Kong-listed arm of China National Petroleum Corp. and with LNG project stakes in Mozambique and Canada, has swung to a first-quarter loss because of the effects of the coronavirus and as its own oil and natural gas output increased in a low-demand period.

The state-controlled Chinese major reported a net loss for the first three months of 2020 of 16.23 billion yuan ($2.29 billion) versus a profit of 10.24Bln yuan ($1.44Bln) in the prior-year quarter.

PetroChina’s revenues fell by 14.4 percent to 509 billion Chinese yuan ($79.9Bln), according to its earnings statement filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Crude oil production rose 4.2 percent to 232.7 million barrels and natural gas output increased 8.7 percent to 1,086.9 billion cubic feet.

“The increase in output was driven by new oil and gas capacity built in 2019,” said PetroChina.

“Facing a severe and complicated economy and operational situation both abroad and domestically, the group faithfully acted out the new concept of development, pushed ahead with quality-based development, paid more attention to green and low-carbon development and digital transformation as well as the value creation,” it added.

PetroChina’s managing company CNPC imports pipeline natural gas from Central Asian countries and Russia as well as LNG from projects such as the Yamal plant in Siberia and from PetroChina LNG agreements.

The Chinese major is additionally part of Royal Dutch Shell’s LNG Canada project under its own name PetroChina and has a stake in the Area 4 reserves in the Rovuma Basin offshore Mozambique with Italian company Eni and ExxonMobil.

PetroChina also operations three important Chinese LNG import terminals at Dalian and Tangshan in the northeast of the country and at Rudong in the central Jiangsu province in the coastal area near Shanghai.

PetroChina also receives natural gas pipeline supplies from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

“The production and sales plans for the first quarter were set in advance and lagged behind in terms of adjustment,” stated the company.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic and record-low oil prices, PetroChina said it would aim to “dynamically optimise” and adjust spending this year from a previously planned 295Bln yuan ($41Bln)

Its exploration and production business recorded a 14.88Bln yuan operating profit in the first quarter, up 3.9 percent and was helped by an 8.9 percent cut in operational costs.

PetroChina's crude oil throughput at refineries fell by 9.6 percent to 276.5 million barrels, or 3.04 million barrels per day, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sales of refined oil products, including gasoline, diesel and kerosene, fell 15.9 percent to 3,547.8 tonnes, reducing profits by around 20.11 billion yuan ($2.84Bln).

Chinese LNG imports dropped last month but were higher than in the previous month with deliveries from nations such as Australia, Qatar and Papua New Guinea helping China surpass its full-year 2018 total in just 11 months.

PetroChina, the Hong Kong-listed arm of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), reported a drop of just over 23 percent in nine-month net profits to 37.25 billion yuan ($5.28 billion) due to a lower oil price and intensified competition in refining as it also faced revenue problems with LNG and pipeline gas imports.

PetroChina plans to expand the Tangshan LNG import terminal that supplies the capital Beijing to become the largest of the nation’s network of 18 terminals, while the company will also start building work soon on its fourth regasfication facility.

Jan 17 (LNGJ) - The 172,000 cubic metres capacity “Beidou Star” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on January 27 to the Chinese Dalian import terminal, owned by PetroChina, from the Gorgon LNG plant on Barrow Island in Western Australia. The 174,000 cubic metres capacity “Gaslog Glasgow” will deliver a shipment on January 29 to the Chinese Tianjin North import terminal, owned by Sinopec, from the Australia Pacific LNG plant In Queensland, operated by ConocoPhillips. The 155,000 cubic metres capacity “Gaslog Sydney” is heading for South America’s only LNG export plant at Pampa Melchorita in Peru to lift a cargo on January 29 for Asia.

Dec 1 (LNGJ) – The 170,000 cubic metres capacity “Methane Julia Louise” was unloading a cargo on December 1 at the Chinese Zhuhai import terminal in Guangdong province from the Queensland Curtis LNG plant in Australia owned by Shell, according to shipping data. The 173,400 cubic metres capacity vessel “Maran Gas Roxana” has just unloaded a shipment at the PetroChina-owned Dalian import terminal in northeast Liaoning province from the Gladstone LNG plant in Australia. The 145,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Methane Lydon Volney” is scheduled to deliver a shipment on December 12 to the Ningbo terminal in the eastern province of Zhejiang, owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp., from Shell’s QCLNG plant in Gladstone. The 165,500 cubic metres capacity carrier “Woodside Donaldson” is scheduled to arrive on December 16 at the Taiwanese Yung-An import facility with a cargo from the Dampier export terminal in Western Australia, operated by Woodside Petroleum.