Oil stocks opened broadly lower, with PetroChina Co Ltd (HKEX: 00857) falling 5.46% to HK$10.22, CNOOC Ltd (HKEX: 00883) dropping 2.52% to HK$23.18, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (HKEX: 00386) slipping 1.75% to HK$4.77, and China Oilfield Services Ltd (HKEX: 02883) declining 1.29% to HK$7.26.
On the news front, Brent crude plummeted more than 10% in a single day on Wednesday, while WTI crude fell over 9%. U.S. Vice President JD Vance attributed the Republican Party's midterm election losses to the war with Iran. Market rumors also suggest that a senior official from the Iranian parliament's national security committee recently verbally confirmed that commercial vessels from China, India, Iraq, and Qatar may be exempt from Iran's wartime transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Market expectations for an extreme scenario of a full strait closure have somewhat eased.
On the earnings side, HSBC issued a research report stating that CNOOC's third-quarter results were affected by impairments and slowing production growth. Despite strong oil prices, net profit rose only 3% year-on-year to RMB 33 billion, while declining 29% quarter-on-quarter. During the period, realized oil prices rose 32% year-on-year and natural gas prices climbed 8%, but the benefits of higher commodity prices were largely offset by impairments on overseas assets and rising costs and taxes.
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