China CNOOC Q3 income climbs 89% to $5.1 billion as energy prices surge
FILE PHOTO: Men wearing face masks walk past a sign of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) outside its headquarters in Beijing, China March 8, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
SINGAPORE : CNOOC Ltd's third-quarter net profit soared by 89 per cent from a year earlier to 36.9 billion yuan ($5.11 billion), driven by stronger oil and gas prices, the Chinese offshore oil and gas major said on Thursday.
Third-quarter revenue rose 54 per cent on the year to 89.2 billion yuan.
Total net production rose 8.8 per cent to 156.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), with domestic fields making up 68 per cent and overseas operations 32 per cent.
Third-quarter capital spending rose by nearly 30 per cent to 27.1 billion yuan, taking the total for the first nine months to 68.7 billion yuan, versus an annual budget of 90-100 billion.
CNOOC said its realised oil prices increased 36 per cent from a year earlier to $95.8 per barrel, while gas prices gained 15 per cent to $8.15 per thousand cubic feet.
In a sign of accelerating domestic exploration, CNOOC announced last week a new deep-water, deep-stratum discovery, Baodao 21-1-1, in the South China Sea, that holds a government certified proven reserve of 50 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Financial Officer Xie Weizhi said Baodao is still in the development planning stage and the company has yet to make a final investment decision.
Concerning CNOOC's North Sea investments, Xie did not directly comment on the sale of any oil assets, but said the company would not rule out a sale if offers came in better than the assets' profitability under the company's own operation.
"The company has consistently been optimising global assets to better fit its technological edge as well as management style," said Xie.
Sources told Reuters earlier this month that Norway's Equinor is considering buying oilfields in the British North Sea from CNOOC, including a big stake in the huge Buzzard field.
CNOOC's Hong Kong-listed shares have gained 35 per cent year-to-date, sharply outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng Index which fell 34 per cent. Its Shanghai listed shares have risen 11.5 per cent since their debut in late April.
($1 = 7.2275 Chinese yuan renminbi)
