CNOOC Lifts Interim Dividend to HKD 0.94 on Record First-Half Profit of CNY 85.8 Billion

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) raised its interim dividend to HKD 0.94 per share, a record since its stock market listing and up 28.77% year on year, after first-half net profit attributable to shareholders reached CNY 85.818 billion. The payout ratio came in at 45.2%.

Profit rose 23.42% from a year earlier and was the strongest first half in the company's history, according to the Hong Kong Economic Journal on August 26, 2026. Revenue reached CNY 242.66 billion, up 16.88%. Basic earnings per share came to CNY 1.81.

Oil and gas sales revenue climbed 20% to CNY 206.1 billion. The realised oil price averaged USD 85.49 per barrel, up about 24%, while the realised gas price rose 1.3%.

Net oil and gas output rose 3.7% to 398.7 million barrels of oil equivalent, a fresh record for the group. Both domestic and overseas volumes set new highs.

All-in main cost per barrel stood at USD 29.7, which the group presented as maintaining a solid cost advantage. Against the realised oil price, that gap is the arithmetic behind the profit and the dividend.

Five new projects were brought onstream during the period. In China, CNOOC logged four new oil and gas discoveries and successfully appraised 16 oil- and gas-bearing structures. Overseas, it secured three new exploration blocks in Brazil and Indonesia, widening its exploration footprint.

Capital expenditure reached CNY 62 billion in the half, up more than 7.6% year on year, against a full-year budget of CNY 112 billion to CNY 122 billion. Spending at that pace leaves the company funding growth and a record distribution from the same cash flow, without cutting either side.

The company said it will hold to its annual production and operating targets, press on reserve and output growth, deepen work on core technologies, and steadily expand its new energy business. The group described both revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders as its best ever for a first half.

For investors comparing cash returns across listed producers, the combination matters more than either figure alone: a 45.2% payout ratio funded at a USD 29.7 per barrel cost base sets a hard reference point for peers arguing that shareholder distributions and reserve replacement compete for the same barrel. CNOOC lifted output, lifted capex, and lifted the dividend in the same six months.

Metro Broadcast's finance site reported the results at 16:53 on August 26, 2026. On the day of publication, the Hang Seng Index was quoted at 25,315.70 points, up 97.42 points, the state-owned enterprises index at 8,396.76 points, up 32.97 points, and the Shanghai Composite at 3,941.79 points, up 9.09 points.