CNPC to sharpen focus on clean energy

China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil and gas producer, said on Thursday that it will further diversify its business and expand cooperation to meet the country's growing demand for clean energy.

The State-owned energy giant will continue to expand natural gas development, especially the development and utilization of unconventional gas, including shale and coal-bed gas. At the same time, it will also step up the use of new energy and new materials to meet the growing demand for clean and high-quality energy in the country, it said in its 2020 social responsibility report.

CNPC produced more than 160 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, with domestic production reaching 130.6 billion cubic meters, up 9.9 percent on a yearly basis and accounting for 70 percent of the country's total natural gas output last year, it said.

Experts said the company has been shifting from being an oil and gas provider to a comprehensive energy provider, while boosting its clean energy output steadily.

According to Tang Sisi, an analyst at research firm BloombergNEF,China's State-owned oil firms have been ramping up their green efforts and accelerating their strategic repositioning toward low-carbon technologies.

"Besides a common interest in solar and wind, the national oil companies are looking into a number of low-carbon options, aligning with their core strengths, to reduce the carbon intensity of their portfolios," she said.

"Announcements so far suggest that the national oil companies will focus, at least in the near term, on fossil-based options to decarbonize, and seek a balance between energy security and climate goals."

CNPC said it would seize the opportunities for low-carbon transformation and development in the energy sector and actively follow a low-carbon business model for clean production.

It will also continuously invest in green energy to help the country decarbonize and achieve carbon neutrality. By 2025, the company plans to increase its proportion of natural gas production to 55 percent in addition to further investing in wind, solar, geothermal and hydrogen, it said.

The company will endeavor to achieve "carbon emissions peak" by around 2025 and "near-zero" emissions by around 2050.

Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF, said although the company saw its profits drop last year due to the COVID-19-induced demand and lower oil prices, it was still committed to enhancing production, especially natural gas output this year.