2025 "Three Oil Giants" Profit Summary: China National Petroleum Corporation's profit exceeds the combined total of Sinopec and CNOOC, but still less than the two major banks

China National Petroleum Corporation recently released its financial report for the year 2025. Although net profit decreased by 4.5% year-on-year to 157.3 billion yuan, it still leads the country’s three major oil companies by a significant margin. Data shows that its profit scale exceeds the combined net profits of Sinopec and CNOOC, demonstrating strong risk resistance capabilities. During the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of 2.86 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%. This marks the third consecutive year of revenue decline and the first negative profit growth in five years.

From a business structure perspective, the oil and gas and new energy sectors contributed the main profits. This sector generated annual revenue of 824.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9%, primarily affected by a 14% drop in international crude oil prices. However, through cost control and operational optimization, it still achieved an operating profit of 136.1 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin increasing by 0.1 percentage points to 26.3%. Natural gas sales became the only business with positive growth, achieving revenue of 619.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, with operating profit growing by 12.6% to 60.8 billion yuan and gross profit margin rising to 9.2%. The refining and chemical and new materials sectors saw revenue decline by 9.6% to 1.078 trillion yuan, but operating profit grew against the trend by 13% to 24.2 billion yuan, with gross profit margin increasing by 0.5 percentage points to 5%.

In terms of capital expenditure, the company invested 269.1 billion yuan for the year, a 2.5% decrease compared to the previous year. Among this, the oil and gas and new energy sector accounted for the highest proportion at 205.1 billion yuan, but this was a decrease of 22.5 billion yuan compared to 2024. Capital expenditure in the refining and chemical and new materials and natural gas sales sectors increased, reflecting the company’s adjustments in downstream business and clean energy layout. Overseas business performed steadily, achieving revenue of 970.2 billion yuan for the year, accounting for 34% of total revenue, with pre-tax profit of 32.6 billion yuan, making up 14.4% of the group’s pre-tax profit. The profit share is 9.5 percentage points lower than the revenue share.

Compared to its peers, China National Petroleum’s performance is significantly better than its competitors. CNOOC’s net profit declined by 11.5% year-on-year to 112.1 billion yuan, while Sinopec’s decline was even greater at 37%, with net profit only remaining at 31.8 billion yuan. The combined net profit of the three major oil companies exceeds 300 billion yuan but is still lower than that of major financial giants such as China Construction Bank (33.89 billion yuan) and Industrial and Commercial Bank (36.86 billion yuan). Market analysts believe that the rapid rebound in international crude oil prices since the end of February is expected to drive profit recovery for the three major oil companies in 2026.

In the capital market, China National Petroleum ranks fourth in A-shares with a total market value of 2.21 trillion yuan, followed closely by CNOOC at 1.95 trillion yuan, while Sinopec lags behind with a market value of only 713.5 billion yuan, which is less than one-third of China National Petroleum’s. However, in terms of valuation levels, Sinopec has the highest price-to-earnings ratio at 22 times, followed by CNOOC at 16 times, while China National Petroleum has the lowest at only 13 times, reflecting the market’s differing profit expectations for the various companies.