Petrochina squeezed between markets and regulated prices

China’s energy supply crunch is contributing to mounting losses at the state-controlled firm

An official call on China’s gas importers to boost inflows ahead of winter will put pressure on earnings at state-controlled Petrochina, as the top Chinese gas buyer will need to import more fuel at a loss to meet Beijing’s demand for steady energy supplies in the cold season. Import costs are often higher than the state-regulated domestic gas prices set by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner. Petrochina lost RMB14.2bn ($2.2bn) on the domestic resale of imported gas last year, which was still a significant improvement from losses of RMB30.7bn in 2019 and RMB24.9bn in 2018. The NOC continued to turn the situation around in the first quarter of t