(Bloomberg) -- PetroChina Co. said preliminary net income for 2021 rose by 374% to 395% from the previous year as oil and gas prices surged.
Net profit attributable to shareholders will increase by 71 billion to 75 billion yuan ($11.2 billion to $11.8 billion) over the 2020 level of 19 billion yuan, the company said in an exchange filing. Profits are up by as much as 48.3 billion yuan from 2019.
Brent crude rebounded to an average $71 a barrel in 2021 as vaccines let governments around the world lift harsh transportation restrictions that cut oil demand in 2020, when it averaged about $43 a barrel.
“The strong performance can be attributed to the oil price recovery and lower-than-expected import gas losses,” Morgan Stanley analysts including Jack Lu said Wednesday in a note.
State-owned PetroChina is the nation's largest oil and natural gas driller, operating a fleet of refineries that produce transportation fuel. It's also a major gas buyer and is required to import the fuel even if that means incurring losses. The company's performance was the best in seven years, it said.
Investors will be looking for clues as to what PetroChina plans do with its windfall profits, after fellow state-owned oil giant Cnooc Ltd. on Tuesday promised a special dividend, stock buybacks and guaranteed dividends through 2024.
PetroChina's Shanghai shares rose as much as 4.7% on Thursday, while it gained as much as 2.9% on the Hong Kong bourse.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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