Ten years of sharpening the sword, sharpen the fragrance of plum blossoms. For a long time, PetroChina has attached great importance to improving quality and efficiency and has carried out special actions for 10 consecutive years, writing a magnificent poem of striving for high-quality development, promoting production and operation performance to record highs, and going further and more steadily in the process of change.

Especially in 2023, PetroChina overcame the impact of unfavorable factors such as downward oil prices and severe international political and economic situation, and made every effort to create an "refined version" of improving quality and efficiency. 9136 measures to improve quality and efficiency have been implemented, with an annual efficiency increase of more than 20 billion yuan., accelerate the transformation from "production" to "business".

From the "upgraded version" to the "value creation action" and then to the "refined version", PetroChina insists on not changing channels, not reducing intensity, and not lowering standards, and pushing quality improvement and efficiency improvement in depth with high standards and high levels. This can't help but make people think deeply. What role has been played by improving quality and efficiency behind the rise in operating performance? When uncertainty becomes the new normal, how does PetroChina achieve breakthroughs in adversity by improving quality and efficiency?

Improving quality and efficiency is a practical issue, but also a cognitive issue. 只有解决了思想上的“低质低效”，提质增效才能向纵深推进。只有树牢“过紧日子”“一切成本皆可降”思想，才能有效应对油价震荡、形势多变等挑战，防范化解风险，“紧”出可观的效益。

At Karamay Petrochemical, stories of improving quality and efficiency continue to be played out:In order to reduce the amount of vulcanizing agent used in diesel hydroupgrading units, some employees reduced the monthly injection amount of vulcanizing agent from 14 tons to 7 tons through multiple adjustments, optimizations and experiments, saving 850,000 yuan per year; Some employees found that the temperature measured by the thermometer cannot accurately reflect the actual temperature at the inlet of the heating furnace. By adjusting the installation position of the thermometer, an effect of more than one million yuan was created; Some employees cut some waste cotton gloves into strips and used these old strips to make mops to "turn waste into treasure"...

Actions always stem from changes in thinking. 从生产一线到机关后勤，从领导干部到基层员工，大家都养成了过紧日子的习惯，对成本、算账更加重视，摆脱了“毛巾上的水已拧干”的思维桎梏。正是在这种提质增效的浓厚氛围中，2023年克拉玛依石化原油加工量、产品产销量等各项指标创历史新高，生产经营整体业绩创建企64年来最优。

The vivid practice of Karamay Petrochemical is a microcosm of PetroChina's tight life. Only by living a tight life can you have a good life. Living a tight life is not about doing less or not doing anything, but practicing the frugality of careful calculation, putting an end to the phenomena of "lavish spending" and "running and leaking", and doing more and doing good things. Nowadays, living a tight life has become a concept advocated and practiced by all PetroChina companies."The development of enterprises must never relax the string of improving quality, efficiency, and low-cost development" has also become the general consensus of cadres and employees.

--"You can use old ones instead of new ones, you can replace parts of them without replacing the whole thing, you can maintain them independently and never contract them." 面对老装置老设备，冀东油田南堡作业区干部员工将“多干效益活、多产效益油”的理念根植于心，结合生产实际深度挖潜，在“废”上做文章，在“改”上下功夫。

--"The 'sesame money' that used to be easily ignored is now in my eyes." 渤海钻探第一钻井公司BHZ45001队队员进一步深化“省一分钱比挣一分钱容易”的思想认识，从节约一块筛布、一块钳牙、一颗螺丝做起，厉行省俭、聚沙成塔，从点滴细节实现提质增效大目标。

--"Innovation is not afraid of small things, and creating results is not afraid of small things." 通过形势任务教育，云南石化全员转变“重生产轻经营”“事前算账不足、财务思维薄弱”等观念，力争做到“市场需要什么、客户需要什么，就大力生产什么”。

Danger and opportunity always go hand in hand. This year's government work report once again emphasizes that governments at all levels must get used to living tight lives, and further clarifies the requirement that "living tight lives are not temporary needs or temporary measures, but should be regarded as long-term work." The oil industry has a tradition of working hard and facing difficulties. No matter whether oil prices rise or fall in the future, we must persist in living a tight life unwaveringly, turn challenges into opportunities, and not be "bystanders" in the battle to improve quality and efficiency. Strive to be the "vanguard" and work together to create a good life to make China's oil development more and more powerful.

If the enterprise does not eliminate losses, the losses will eliminate the enterprise. The governance of loss-making enterprises is the most direct and effective measure to improve quality and efficiency. As the "economic force" of the party and the country, PetroChina must deepen the governance of loss-making enterprises and the reduction of legal persons, coordinate the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity, and promote the sustained and healthy development of the national economy with the continuous improvement of business performance. Be a good benchmark.

At the beginning of 2023, the clarion call to win the "first-year battle" of the three-year campaign to combat loss-making corporate governance and corporate reduction has been fully sounded in PetroChina.

Although this battle is full of difficulties, it must be won.

In recent years, PetroChina has broken the waves and worked hard to improve quality and efficiency. However, due to multiple factors such as macroeconomics, market environment, and internal management, some companies still have sustained losses.

A loss of money for a company not only means that its profitability will continue to be sluggish, but there may also be some areas with poor benefits and employees with low incomes, which will affect the steady development of the company and the enthusiasm and initiative of employees, and even form a vicious circle.

Support people but not loss-making enterprises. The overall high-quality development of the group company requires every enterprise and every business to achieve high-quality development. Without first-class operating results and frequent losses, future development will face severe tests, and the responsibilities and missions of central enterprises will not be effectively fulfilled. For PetroChina, how to turn losses and overcome difficulties and create a new situation for high-quality development?

On the one hand, to deal with losses, we must not make digital losses or false losses. 要眼睛向内，以“杀出一条血路”的斗争精神和顽强意志，抓两头带中间、抓重点带一般，真正做到减存量控增量。

From conducting special research on large-loss enterprises, to establishing a monitoring list of small-loss enterprises and suspending the payment of bonuses to some small-loss enterprises, to conducting on-site interviews, video supervision, and sending reminders to enterprises that increase losses and return losses, PetroChina has strengthened the governance of existing loss-making enterprises, strictly controlled new loss-making enterprises and loss-returning enterprises, and carried out self-revolution to the end.

On the other hand, the key principle for managing losses is to adhere to a problem orientation. 企业亏损的原因往往错综复杂，必须根据亏损企业的实际情况，“一企一策”制定扭亏策略，有的放矢地采取差异化扭亏措施。

Outside Yumen Pass, Yumen Oilfield is moving rapidly in the field of new energy, building the stamina for the continued development of old oil fields. Currently, the completed new energy projects have created more than 100 million yuan in efficiency, and they are more and more confident to turn losses and get rid of difficulties; Yanzhao Dadi, Hebei Sales adhere to market orientation and conduct fine marketing of oil and non-oil products. In 2023, all its 13 municipal branches will be profitable, reversing the "nine losses in ten years" situation in one fell swoop..

It can be seen that turning losses into profits through transformation and development, marketing, reorganization and integration has become the norm in PetroChina. The majority of cadres and employees unanimously believe that what is most needed to turn losses and solve difficulties is to "prescribe the right medicine", change "asking me to turn losses" to "I want to turn losses", and firmly grasp the initiative in development.

With the joint efforts of the group companies, PetroChina will deliver a bright answer in 2023:Losses, loss areas, and loss amounts all reached the best levels since 2010. Hundreds of wholly-owned and holding legal persons were reduced throughout the year, and dozens of joint-stock legal persons were cleared and withdrawn. A number of long-term problems that have been wanted to solve but have not been solved have been effectively solved.

World-class enterprises are all first-class enterprises with first-class management. 中国石油在建设基业长青的世界一流综合性国际能源公司的道路上，面临着竞争日益激烈的市场环境。以“精”求进、以“精”促进，把精益管理融入生产经营全过程，助力企业提质增效，正是应对竞争加剧的法宝。

** Management is the cornerstone of enterprise development. ** In the complex situation, if enterprises want to have a "place", they must change their extensive management models and achieve the goal of sustainable development through the application of new management models.

The core concept of lean management is to avoid all waste, create maximum value and obtain the highest benefits with the least investment of resources. In recent years, lean management has become a common practice in all walks of life around the world and has achieved remarkable results. Various experiences show that if enterprises want to enhance core functions and improve core competitiveness, it is the only way to move towards lean management.

How to do lean management well? PetroChina is thinking and exploring. Judging from the practice of oil companies, we must seize the two "big heads" of "people" and "money".

Focusing on personnel management, PetroChina actively promotes innovation in production organization models, improves incentive mechanisms based on people, and works hard from organizational, performance and other aspects to jointly promote lean management.

The Hujianshan operation area of Changqing Oilfield No. 3 Oil Production Plant in Shaanxi Province has established a new organizational structure of "flat, short and precise". Compared with two years ago, the original three-level structure has been changed to a second-level structure, and 52 positions have been optimized and integrated into 38 positions; Fushun Petrochemical Petroleum Plant No. 2 in Liaoning Province has stepped up assessment and constraints to strictly prevent the phenomenon of "unwilling to work, dare not work, and can't work", so that people who are "lying down" can truly stand up and work. Through the implementation of measures to improve quality and efficiency, the workforce of each enterprise has become leaner and efficient, and its motivation and vitality continue to burst out.

Focusing on investment management, PetroChina deepens comprehensive budget management, strengthens inventory operation and management, maintains overall low inventory operations, and increases asset revitalization efforts to improve the proportion of high-efficiency assets and the ability to create efficiency of normal-efficiency assets. At the same time, we will determine the investment direction based on the market, optimize the investment structure, increase the investment quota, promote the acceleration of the construction of projects under construction such as refining, chemicals, oil and gas reserves, and accelerate the implementation of planned projects, so as to better exert the driving and demonstration effects of investment.

If you invest improperly, today's investment will be tomorrow's burden; if you invest properly, today's investment will be tomorrow's benefits. PetroChina's rigorous and precise investment management allows "good steel" to be used on the "cutting edge" and maximize the efficiency of capital use.

In 2023, the economic added value EVA exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, free cash flow increased by 17.1% year-on-year, and the asset-liability ratio and capital-liability ratio dropped by 1.7 and 2.2 percentage points respectively year-on-year... A series of heavy data highlights the improvement of PetroChina's quality and efficiency. The fruitful results of improving PetroChina's efficiency show that PetroChina is determined to forge ahead and take responsibility.

The continuous deepening of the concept of living a tight life, the continuous advancement of loss-making corporate governance and corporate reduction work, and the continuous improvement of lean management levels are the "refinement" code for PetroChina to break the trend. Improving quality and efficiency is always on the road. At present, changes in the world, the times, and history are unfolding in an unprecedented way. PetroChina can only continue to create a "value-added version" of improving quality and efficiency, and truly make the work of improving quality and efficiency to the extreme and become the norm. Only then can we effectively cope with the high uncertainty of environmental changes, seek more generous returns, and provide strong support for production and operation performance to reach new heights!

reporter:Jin Wenqi

picture: Zhu Chancai and Xu Lu

edit:Luan Yi

editor:he Li

audit:Li Xiangyang

past review

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