China National Offshore Oil Corporation posted record first-half net profit of $12.8 billion, up 23.4% year-over-year, as the state-controlled producer boosted output from its offshore fields and benefited from higher crude prices.
Oil and gas sales revenue climbed 20% to 206.1 billion yuan, according to the company's filing. Production reached 398.7 million barrels of oil equivalent, a 3.7% increase from the prior-year period. The profit gain outpaced the production gain, a spread driven largely by higher realized crude prices over the six months.
CNOOC operates in an energy environment where China faces competing pressures to secure supply and reduce reliance on imports. The company's growth follows a broader Chinese strategy to develop domestic offshore reserves in the South China Sea and the Bohai Sea. Offshore production has become critical to China's energy independence; the country imported roughly 70% of its crude oil in 2025, according to government data. Domestic production gains matter as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East affect global supply routes.
The company's first-half results include operations across its three core regions: the Bohai Bay, the Western South China Sea, and the Eastern South China Sea. Bohai Bay remains CNOOC's largest producing region. The company has invested in deepwater fields and expanded exploration activity in recent years to offset decline rates in older fields.
CNOOC's profit gain of $3.23 billion represents roughly 34% of the company's total first-half earnings growth, with the remainder driven by higher revenues across its oil and gas portfolio. The 23.4% year-over-year profit increase significantly outpaced the 3.7% production growth, indicating that price realization rather than volume drove the period's results.
China's state-owned energy producers have become central to Beijing's energy security calculations as crude prices remain volatile and Middle Eastern supply routes face repeated disruption. CNOOC's record half shows the immediate benefit to Chinese energy companies when global crude prices spike, but also shows how dependent the company remains on price swings rather than fundamental production expansion to grow earnings.
