CNPC

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is China's largest state-owned oil and gas company, operating across the full upstream-to-downstream chain: exploration, production, refining, petrochemicals, pipeline infrastructure, and natural gas distribution. It is the parent of PetroChina, the listed subsidiary through which much of its upstream and midstream activity is reported. CNPC is headquartered in Beijing and reports to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

As China's principal state crude buyer, CNPC's refinery run rates and seaborne import volumes are closely watched as a leading indicator of Asian crude demand. Alongside Sinopec, it accounts for the bulk of China's state-refiner crude purchasing. In the disruption window opened by the 2026 Hormuz crisis, CNPC and Sinopec dramatically reduced seaborne crude intake: Chinese seaborne crude imports fell to roughly 6.78 million barrels a day in May 2026, the lowest May print in nearly a decade, down from 8.5 mbd in April and against a 10.66 mbd 2025 average. State-refiner margins had deteriorated to approximately –$60 per barrel at the mid-April trough before recovering to around –$2 per barrel by late May as throughput was cut back. OFAC's General License X, issued 22 June 2026 and running through 21 August, authorises Iranian crude production, sale and delivery with no approved-buyer list; the Foundation for Defense of Democracies assessed it functions less as relief for Iran than as a SAFE harbour for Chinese refiners, including CNPC, already buying Iranian crude through pre-existing workarounds, with roughly one tanker a day continuing to reach China as of late June.

CNPC's operational footprint extends internationally through upstream concessions in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America, giving it a direct interest in Hormuz transit and Middle East crude stability. Its crude purchasing decisions carry weight in global VLCC freight markets and in the pricing of Middle East sour grades.