The more severe the storm, the more confidence and quality an enterprise develops.

In the past year, international geopolitical risks have increased, global economic growth has slowed down, and oil prices have dropped by 16.8% year-on-year... Uncertainty has affected sensitive nerves in the economy and society.

It stands to reason that energy companies should follow the ups and downs of the "oil sea" and the economic shocks, but PetroChina is in the downward range of international oil prices, its production and operation performance has hit a record high, and its efficiency ranks among the top ranks of central enterprises.

Why can PetroChina become popular against the market?

This is inseparable from the group company's continuous improvement of its internal market-oriented operating mechanism and improvement of marketing capabilities and levels. Data shows that in the past year, CNPC's "golden terminals" such as sales of refined oil products, natural gas, and chemical products have increased significantly year-on-year in the group's performance contribution, making important contributions to reaching a record high in operating performance and becoming a group company. An important part of continuing to write a new chapter.

Strengthening marketing work means following the development laws of the market economy and the operating laws of the oil and gas industry. 从以产定销到以销定产、以产促销，是以市场为导向，重塑产炼销链条的惯性与逻辑，让生产与市场同向而行、同频共振。

This happened to Daqing Petrochemical:From Daqing East Railway Station to Wolitun Station, the 10-kilometer professional line of the enterprise is filled with 420 tankers, and more than 18,000 tons of refined oil have been stored in tanks. If the truck is not loaded for another 10 hours, the company will be forced to reduce production or even stop production.

In the past, every winter, refineries would seasonally expand or even choke down their warehouses. On the surface, this is a rapid change in the market that cannot keep up with the coordination of refining and marketing. But the root cause is that from 2010 to 2020, China's refined oil production increased by 30%, while consumption only increased by 11%. The market is rapidly changing from "supply exceeds demand" to "supply exceeds demand", but enterprises have not switched from "planning thinking" to "market thinking" in time. Production and the market are not synchronized, and the industrial chain is not smooth enough. The upstream produces according to plan,"the ship is in a difficult situation to turn around", and the downstream closely follows the market "barometer". When the plan is not synchronized with the market,"intestinal obstruction" in the industrial chain will appear.

This makes companies realize the importance of rationalizing the industrial chain. In 2020, the party group of the group company held a special meeting with the theme of marketing for the first time, and proposed a 24-word marketing work policy of "market-oriented, customer-oriented, product-oriented, product-oriented, integrated collaboration, win-win cooperation", which clarified the guiding role of the market reshapes the operating inertia and logic of the industrial chain.

In the past three years, the group company has taken the reform of the price mechanism as the starting point, coordinated upstream and downstream, promoted the linkage between crude oil settlement prices and international oil prices, the integration of internal settlement prices of refined oil products with the market, and the differentiated pricing of natural gas based on supply and demand... By aligning prices with the market, the internal marketization mechanism of the group company is becoming increasingly improved, and the oil and gas industry chain is operating smoother and more efficiently.

The laws of economic operation determine that there is a time difference between the investment period and the profit period. After three years of deep cultivation, the industrial chain production and the market have gradually moved in the same direction and resonated with the same frequency. Especially in the past year, the concentrated release of accumulated efficiency has become an important factor in helping business performance reach new highs.

As the "golden terminal" of the industrial chain, the effect of refined oil sales companies is particularly obvious.

Prior to this, due to the inversion of the internal settlement price and the market price, the two major responsibilities of sales companies to "protect the road" and "ensure efficiency" were intertwined. Employees of a sales company once complained that if users are encouraged to purchase direct refining resources, they will "protect the way forward" but cannot "protect the benefits"; if users are encouraged to purchase local refining resources,"protect the benefits" but cannot "protect the way forward".

One side is sales tasks and the other is profit indicators. Which should we focus on?

Today,"as the market-oriented ex-factory price formation mechanism for refinery gasoline and diesel continues to improve based on the principle of consultation, the internal settlement price resonates with the market price at the same frequency, which adds confidence to sales personnel to enter the market and gain benefits." Wei Yong, director of the retail management department of the sales company, said.

Data shows that in the past year, the sales volume of refined oil sales companies has changed, setting a new historical record, and the overall profitability has reached the highest level in 10 years.

The increase in sales expansion of "golden terminals" drives upstream business to increase production and help the entire industry chain operate efficiently. In the past year, the crude oil processing volume and the output of 16 types of products of refining and chemical companies have reached record highs, and their ability to create efficiency has been significantly improved; the domestic and foreign oil and gas output equivalents of oilfield companies have reached new highs, and the benefits have steadily increased; the operating income of PetroChina's technical services has increased year by year, and the number of newly signed contracts for supporting service businesses such as PetroChina Engineering and Kunlun Manufacturing has steadily increased, showing strong development potential.

International oil prices are ups and downs and unpredictable. The key is to gauge the pulse of the oil market. 从随“市”而行到观“潮”而动，加强市场研判、及时精准施策，助力企业抢占先机、在竞争中取胜。

On September 14, 2023, international oil prices were operating at a high level of more than US$90 per barrel.

At the group company's oil and gas price and market analysis meeting, internal research institutions warned that there is a risk of falling oil prices.

Based on the results of market research and judgment, the sales company began to formulate proactive marketing strategies, and the sales companies in various provinces and cities stepped up efforts to expand sales and reduce inventories. Until the end of November 2023, although international oil prices have dropped for two consecutive months, the sales company has minimized the risk of falling prices and losses by reasonably manipulating inventories.

"The market is ups and downs and unpredictable. As long as we track the market, analyze the market, and predict the market, there will be room for expansion and efficiency improvement." Chen Junren, deputy director of the marketing department of the sales company, said.

Looking back at the international oil price in the past three years, it has been operating at high levels above US$100/barrel for many days, and has also fallen sharply all the way, reaching a historically negative oil price, with the market fluctuating violently. Even in 2023, when international oil prices are relatively stable, the increase and decrease will exceed 40%.

The international oil and gas market is "one night for soil, one night for gold." Whoever can follow the pulse of the market will be able to take the initiative.

Leaders of the group company attach great importance to market research and judgment, and specially organized and held a marketing work leading group meeting to analyze and judge the market situation and oil price trends. Scientific research institutions such as the General Planning Institute and the Economic Research Institute have continued to optimize and improve market prediction models to accurately judge the oil price trend after key changes such as the century epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In the past three years, the accuracy of international oil price research and judgment has increased from 67% to 75%, providing strong support for the company's scientific decision-making in production and operation.

As a key link in achieving effective results in market research and judgment, professional companies closely integrate market research and judgment with operational optimization, optimize marketing strategies in a timely manner, accurately manipulate resources, control sales rhythm, and activate full-chain efficiency factors. "In the past three years, our research and judgment results have been combined with the practice of professional companies, we have optimized more than 400 various plans and proposed more than 200 various measures, which has greatly assisted the group company's work of reducing costs and increasing efficiency." Ding Shaoheng, director of the Marketing Institute of the General Planning Institute, said.

The fast fish rule of management is about:Under the new economic laws, market competition is not that big fish eat small fish, but that fast fish eat slow fish. Whoever can get information and respond first will be the first to seize the opportunity and monopolize business opportunities.

Behind "speed" is round-the-clock tracking and timely and accurate response. The group company has established daily, weekly and monthly meetings, built an industrial chain forecasting, early warning and intelligent dispatch system, and strengthened daytime monitoring and rapid response mechanisms for major events.

"Today, international oil prices fluctuate more and more. Please ask the General Planning Institute, the Institute of Economic Research and International Business Companies to closely track the changes in oil prices, analyze the reasons for fluctuations and judge subsequent trends, and make preparations for launching the Incident Response Service mechanism." On October 4, 2023, during the National Day period, international oil prices suddenly fell, and the Group's Oil and Gas Price and Market Research Working Group immediately issued a notice.

"Once the fluctuation exceeds a certain proportion, we will immediately organize member units of the working group to conduct consultation and judgment, form work suggestions, and report them to the department and group leaders." Li Jiang, deputy director of the Oil Products and New Materials Division of the Production and Operation Management Department, told reporters. Rapid response and accurate judgment on market changes have provided strong support for upstream and downstream enterprises to coordinate and respond to market changes in a timely manner.

Thought is the precursor of action. 从“生产型”向“经营型”转变，带来的是市场营销意识和能力的增强，企业市场化经营水平明显提高，成为做大效益“蛋糕”的关键一招。

At the beginning of 2023, domestic epidemic prevention and control has just been liberalized, the economic recovery has warmed up and is still cold, and the demand in the western gasoline market has not yet emerged from the downturn, but the aviation fuel product market is the first to show signs of recovery.

"We immediately adjusted our product structure, reduced oil products, and increased aviation coal production. From January to February, we increased aviation coal output by 13,000 tons." Cai Qiaoyu, director of the production planning post of Sichuan Petrochemical Planning and Operation Department, said that when setting up a production scheduling plan, we must not only consider the production situation of the equipment, but also combine market analysis and the marginal benefits of various products.

The situation of Sichuan Petrochemical is not an exception. In the past three years, especially in the past year, the enterprises of the group company have shifted from "production-oriented" to "business-oriented", and their marketing awareness and capabilities have been significantly enhanced.:Enterprises are not only looking at the "underground" and "devices", but also looking at the "market"; they are not only calculating the "production account", but also calculating the "benefit account".

The two major industrial chains of crude oil and natural gas adhere to "pre-emptive calculations", strengthen benefit calculations, prepare and implement production and operation plans on a rolling basis, optimize and adjust business strategies in a timely manner, and ensure the steady operation of production and operations; new energy power generation achieved zero breakthroughs, geothermal heating area, CCUS injection volume, carbon emissions trading volume, etc. have become new business growth points. International oil prices are volatile and the increased risk of market fluctuations has brought challenges to production, but created opportunities for financial markets.

In the past three years, the group company has built and launched currency and commodity financial derivatives business information systems, opened up hedging business processes for crude oil, natural gas, and chemical sales companies, and carried out group-level international trade and financial derivatives business training... to drive various enterprises The awareness of virtual markets and risk prevention has been significantly enhanced.

"In the past year alone, we have represented 19 companies in hedging agency business, with a scale of more than 10 million tons, effectively hedging the risks brought by wide fluctuations in international crude oil prices in 2023." Yang Yang, the marketing group of the Risk Control Department of the International Business Company, said. As the executor of crude oil and natural gas derivatives operations of the group company, in order to ensure accurate decision-making, international business companies provide full-chain trading services such as market trends and marketing references.

Oil prices fluctuate widely and the oil market is high and turbulent, and the road to quality and efficiency development will inevitably be bumpy. Only by strengthening the confidence and determination to do a good job in marketing and responding to the uncertainty of the market and environment with the certainty of its own work can PetroChina continue to make the "cake" of benefits bigger and seize the initiative in the tide of industry transformation and upgrading.

✓

reporter:Wei Feng and Wang Jing

picture:Liu Xiaodi, Wang Xuezheng, Gao Yunlong, Han Jing, Tuha Oilfield Weixin Official Accounts

edit:Luan Yi

editor:he Li

audit:Li Xiangyang

past review

• [The scenery should be long-term and long-term and long-term perspective-Sidelights of PetroChina's 2023 Annual Results Conference](

• [PetroChina releases 2023 annual results in Hong Kong](

• [There is too much oil slang, and Mengxin can't bear it! ](