The third-quarter earnings for the "three barrels of oil" companies have been released, showing collective growth in both revenue and net profit, with a combined net profit attributable to shareholders of nearly 313.88 billion yuan, surpassing the total net profit for the full year of 2025.
Among them, PetroChina led in profitability, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching nearly 155.8 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a record high; China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) followed with 119.1 billion yuan; and Sinopec posted net profit attributable to shareholders of nearly 40.2 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 25.3% year-on-year, the highest growth rate.
Reporters interviewed multiple brokerage firms, all of which expressed optimism about the continued high prosperity of the three oil giants' future performance, believing that under the international geopolitical uncertainty, the shortage and high prices of oil-related products may persist.
Guotai Haitong: Oil and Gas Business Benefits from High Oil Prices, Operating Profit Grows Significantly
In the third quarter of 2026, PetroChina's oil, gas, and new energy segment achieved operating profit of 51.58 billion yuan, up 30.8% year-on-year; operating profit for the first three quarters reached 152.02 billion yuan, up 19.7% year-on-year. This was mainly due to the average realized crude oil price rising 18.5% year-on-year to $77.65 per barrel, with the average Brent crude oil price in Q3 remaining at a high of $91.29 per barrel.
Guolian Minsheng: Q3 2026 Profit Hits Record High for Same Period, Value of Oil Leader Highlighted
PetroChina is a leading domestic oil and gas enterprise with abundant upstream oil and gas resources and a complete downstream industrial chain. In the first three quarters of 2026, the company achieved operating revenue of 2,321.06 billion yuan, up 7.0% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of 155.77 billion yuan, up 21.9% year-on-year; and non-GAAP net profit attributable to shareholders of 158.90 billion yuan, up 23.7% year-on-year. In Q3 2026, refined oil sales increased quarter-on-quarter, with higher growth internationally. The company actively responded to accelerated new energy substitution, deepened refined marketing; seized market opportunities for international trade, achieving trade operation efficiency improvements. In Q3 2026, total refined oil sales were 41.36 million tons, up 19.0% quarter-on-quarter, including domestic sales of 30.18 million tons, up 14.6% quarter-on-quarter, and international sales of 11.18 million tons, up 32.4% quarter-on-quarter.
Guosen Securities: PetroChina's Entire Industrial Chain Shows Stable Improvement Across All Segments
Refining and chemical transformation upgrades have shown significant results, with refining and chemical business profits rising sharply both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter. In the first three quarters of 2026, the company's refining business operating profit was 18 billion yuan (up 3.6 billion yuan year-on-year), and chemical business operating profit was 5.1 billion yuan (up 3.2 billion yuan year-on-year); in the third quarter, refining business operating profit was 6.3 billion yuan (up 1.8 billion yuan quarter-on-quarter), and chemical business operating profit was 2.3 billion yuan (up 3.2 billion yuan quarter-on-quarter). In the third quarter, crude oil processing volume was 347 million barrels (up 11.1% quarter-on-quarter), refined oil production was 29.02 million tons (up 12.5% quarter-on-quarter), chemical product sales volume was 11.57 million tons (up 9.8% quarter-on-quarter), with ethylene/synthetic resin/synthetic fiber/synthetic rubber production up 15%/13%/-1%/16% quarter-on-quarter respectively, and new material production up 61% year-on-year.
Guolian Minsheng: Sinopec's Refining Profit Surges Year-on-Year and Quarter-on-Quarter, Exploration and Chemical Profits Decline Quarter-on-Quarter
In Q3 2026, the company achieved operating revenue of 769.74 billion yuan, up 9.3% year-on-year and 5.5% quarter-on-quarter; net profit attributable to shareholders of 13.36 billion yuan, up 57.2% year-on-year and 55.0% quarter-on-quarter. By business segment, exploration and development operating profit was 10.98 billion yuan, up 2.4% year-on-year but down 28.6% quarter-on-quarter; refining operating profit was 12.31 billion yuan, up 253.4% year-on-year and turned profitable quarter-on-quarter; marketing and distribution was 550 million yuan, down 79.1% year-on-year but turned profitable quarter-on-quarter; chemicals was -1.27 billion yuan, reduced losses year-on-year but turned to a loss quarter-on-quarter. The company is a leading domestic refining and chemical enterprise with a complete upstream and downstream industrial chain and strong risk resistance, and also has a high willingness to pay dividends.
Guohai Securities: Sinopec Actively Responds to Middle East Geopolitical Conflicts and Severe International Oil Price Fluctuations
The company adheres to integrated coordination of trade, storage and transportation, and production to maintain stable operation of the industrial chain. It deeply advances diversified procurement and timely optimizes resource allocation; based on changes in crude oil resource prices, timely calculates marginal benefits to maximize profitable processing volume; continuously promotes the construction of "oil-to-chemical" and "oil-to-specialty" industrial systems, flexibly adjusts product structure, and increases production of high-end carbon materials and other products; coordinates domestic and international markets, does a good job in refined oil exports, and enhances the value creation level of the industrial chain. In the first three quarters of 2026, the company's crude oil processing volume was 167 million tons, down 10.2% year-on-year; chemical light oil production was 26.83 million tons, down 19.5% year-on-year; and refined oil production was 103 million tons, down 7.3% year-on-year.
Comments