PetroChina Advances Green Transition with Low-Carbon Business Overhaul
A major state-owned energy giant in China is reshaping its business strategy, pivoting from its traditional focus to embrace a broader energy portfolio amid the global shift towards greener alternatives.
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), one of the world's largest oil and gas producers, is actively transforming into a comprehensive energy provider. The company is aligning its operations with the global energy transition, expanding into areas including renewables, hydrogen, and thermal power.
This strategic shift is visible across the country. Projects range from wind and solar power installations in the Songliao Basin to geothermal initiatives around the Bohai Bay. The company is also developing a 'green hydrogen' demonstration base at the Yumen Oilfield and expanding a nationwide network of integrated energy service stations.
In recent years, CNPC has formally integrated new energy operations into its core business. The corporation has outlined a three-phase strategy involving 'clean substitution, strategic replacement, and green transformation'. It is actively building an industrial chain for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) and refining a green industrial layout focused on geothermal, hydrogen, wind, solar, and CCUS. Reports indicate that the capacity from its new energy developments now constitutes 7% of its domestic energy supply.
Notably, while advancing these new energy and materials sectors, CNPC is also exploring future energy technologies such as controlled nuclear fusion. This forms part of its effort to establish new growth areas beyond its traditional oil and gas business.
Concurrently, the company maintains its focus on strengthening its foundational oil and gas operations. Since the beginning of the new era, CNPC has intensified exploration and development efforts, leading to a steady increase in its supply capacity. According to company information, it has established a new supply framework characterised by "three 100 million tonnes": domestic crude oil production, domestic natural gas production, and overseas oil and gas equity production equivalents.
Several major refining and chemical projects have been commissioned, with its annual ethylene production capacity surpassing 10 million tonnes. The company has also built five major international oil and gas cooperation zones, four transnational transportation corridors, and three international operation centres.
In terms of innovation, CNPC reported breakthroughs in key areas such as shale oil and gas extraction, ultra-deep drilling, and high-end chemical materials. The company is also pursuing digital transformation, highlighted by its self-developed 'Kunlun Big Model', an artificial intelligence system with 300 billion parameters designed to empower its entire industrial chain and potentially reshape future energy sector operations.