Its profits have been stable over the past three years. In the first six months of 2025, they reached $16.9bn before tax, the same level as in H1 2022—a prosperous year for the sector as a whole—when profits reached $17.7bn.
In addition to the significant size of its refining activities, there is much speculation about the reasons for this resilience. The first of these is, of course, PetroChina's ability to purchase crude oil at a discount from Russia, which has been deprived of outlets on world markets due to sanctions.
For the fourth consecutive year, the group is therefore expected to generate after-tax profits of around $22bn. Its current enterprise value of $220bn represents exactly 10x this profit.
In line with the group's historical policy, MarketScreener analysts expect half of this to be distributed as dividends. In terms of valuation, this translates into a dividend yield in line with its western peers.
Amongst the major players, all closely monitored by MarketScreener, Brazil's Petrobras—the world leader in offshore drilling—remains by far the most undervalued. See Petrobras' stratospheric dividend yield reflects investors' extreme mistrust of the company.
Historically less profitable than its peers, PetroChina nevertheless boasts the best balance sheet in the sector, with net debt reduced to almost nothing. Still two-thirds controlled by the Chinese government, in 2025 its share price is exactly the same as it was twenty years ago.
It is true that its EPS are the same today as they were then, as is the case with Total—see What's the fair price for TotalEnergies shares? However, its proven oil reserves have fallen by over 40%, while its natural gas reserves, on the contrary, have almost doubled.
Driven by the government, this strategic transition to gas—the substitute of choice for coal—is continuing at a steady pace with the acquisition of storage facilities.
