The fossil-fuel titan is on track for non-fossil energy to account for 7 per cent of its total energy production capacity in 2025, chairman Dai Houliang said, while reiterating its ambition to raise the proportion to one-third a decade after that.

“Last year, we amended our company’s articles of association so that new energy and new materials have become part of our core business, alongside oil and gas,” he told reporters and analysts.

PetroChina announced in 2021 its intent to transform its output profile so that oil, gas and low-carbon, non-fossil energy would each account for one-third of its output capacity by 2035.

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Last October, PetroChina renamed its oil and gas exploration and production division “oil, gas and new energies”, while its refining and chemicals segment was rechristened “refining, chemicals and new materials” to reflect the greater importance of high-value, innovative and sustainable products.

It has also established a new energy research institute in Shenzhen, as well as research institutes for new materials in Shanghai and Japan, Dai said.

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Unlike its European oil and gas peers, PetroChina has yet to commit to a net-zero goal on the emissions arising from the use of its products.

On Wednesday, PetroChina published its latest sustainability report, which said greenhouse-gas emissions from its own operations amounted to 160.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year.

The level is similar to the 159.5 million tonnes released in 2021 but down almost 8 per cent from 174 million tonnes in 2019. Emissions per unit of domestic oil and gas output declined 4 per cent last year, after falling 10.7 per cent in 2021, the company said.

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Emissions of methane – over 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere – fell 6.4 per cent to 40 million tonnes last year.

On Wednesday, PetroChina posted a 62.1 per cent jump in 2022 net profit to a record high of 149.4 billion yuan, above the average estimate of 147 billion yuan by 16 analysts polled by Bloomberg.

The company declared a final dividend of 22 fen per share, making a full-year payout of 42.3 fen – up from 22.6 fen in 2021. This represented a payout ratio of 52 per cent, ahead of the company’s historical practice and analysts’ consensus expectation of 45 per cent, said Sanford Bernstein senior analyst Neil Beveridge in a note on Wednesday.

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PetroChina shares surged 7.8 per cent to HK$4.68 on Thursday.

A 45 to 55 per cent rise in average selling prices in 2022 drove a 141 per cent jump in operating profit to 165.7 billion yuan in PetroChina’s oil and natural-gas production division.

Higher energy prices have, however, resulted in lower profits for the company’s oil refining and chemical production operations, as well as its gas marketing units.

For this year, PetroChina aims to lift crude oil production by 0.7 per cent, and that of natural gas by 4.6 per cent. It plans to increase oil refining throughput by 6.6 per cent, after volume fell 1 per cent last year.