PetroChina reports 2016 net profit tumbles 78 pc, says it’s in talks with Saudi Aramco

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PetroChina chairman Wang Yilin said he expects the international oil price to average somewhere between US$50 and US$58 per barrel this year. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:29pm, 30 Mar 2017Updated: 3:42pm, 21 Oct 2020

Petro China, the nation’s largest oil and gas producer, says it is holding wide-ranging talks with Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Saudi Aramco that include possible participation in its upcoming initial public offering, expected to be the world’s largest.

Petro China’s vice chairman Wang Dongjin said he was recently informed of Aramco’s plan to go public. Wang made the comments in a post results press briefing after the company posted a 78 per cent profit decline for 2016 that was in line with analysts’ expectations.

“PetroChina will study the opportunity according to market conditions and national interests,” Wang told reporters on Thursday when asked if PetroChina is interested in acquiring shares in the energy giant that manages the world’s largest proven conventional crude oil reserves.

Wang said the talks also covered Aramco’s interest in investing in an oil refining and petrochemical project being built by PetroChina in Yunnan province that is expected to come on stream in June. The talks also included the potential deployment of PetroChina’s technology to enhance output of Aramco’s oil projects in Saudi Arabia.

Officials at Sinopec, China’s second-largest state-backed oil firm, said on Monday that talks involving potential cooperation have been underway with Aramco.

PetroChina said 2016 net profit amounted to 7.9 billion yuan (US$1.15 billion), down from 35.5 billion yuan in 2015, in line with its warning two months ago of a 70 to 80 per cent fall.

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