Welcome to 2024 CNOOC Annual Results Announcement. Please allow me to introduce the management today: CFO Chairman Mr. Wang Dongjin, Vice Chairman and CEO Mr. Zhou Xinhuai, Managing Director Mr. Yan Hongtao, Independent Non-Executive Director Mr. Lin Boqiang, Secretary of the Board Mr. Xu Yugao, Managing Director of the Finance Department Ms. Wang Yufan. Today we are going to have three parts. To begin with, Mr. Wang will have the opening speech followed by Mr. Wang's review to the financial performance and operation review. It will be wrapped up with the Q&A, which will be interpreted consecutively. Now I pass the floor to Mr. Wang.
Distinguished shareholders, analysts, and media friends, good afternoon. It is my great honor to join with you at this great timing of spring and share with you the performance of CNOOC in 2024.
In 2024, CNOOC enhanced the productivity and the quality as well as the efficiency. In the meantime, we mitigate the risk and reduce the cost. Production amount, reserve amount, meets the historical high. Cost competitive edge has been consolidated, and we maintain the performance through the very tough cycles of economy and create values. On one hand, we enhance the quality and the production development of oil and fuel. On the other hand, we enhance the new productivity through technology-driven and digital-driven transformation. We adhere to the low carbon green development and explore the green transformation pathways. Spare no effort in combining oil and fuel with the emerging industry. We maintain the high quality standard, safety standard, and safeguarding the bottom line of safety. We are committed with the high quality of corporate governance and attach great importance on the market value management.
The board of directors has reviewed CNOOC market value management measures. In 2024, the profitability of the company maintained at the rather high level. The profit attributed to the parent company in RMB 137.9 billion. We are proactively sharing the results of development. The board of directors has advised to distribute the dividend for the whole year of 2024, HKD 6.6, including tax, up 12% year- on- year. Looking ahead to the future, we view work with greater confidence and speed up our development as the world-class energy company. In the meantime, create more values to the shareholders. Last but not least, we sincerely wish you continue to support CNOOC, and together we join hands in hands and create a better future. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thanks, Mr. Wang. Now I pass the floor to Ms. Wang from the Financial Department to review the financial performance.
Distinguished analysts, media friends, shareholders, good afternoon. Welcome to CNOOC 2024 result announcement. Now I'd like to review our performance in 2024 in terms of operation and financial operation. Before that, please have a look at the disclaimer. Now I'd like to cover three areas. First, I'm going to cover the performance overview. Then I will move to the highlights of operation. I will end up with the outlook for the future. In the past year, under the joint effort of the Board of Director management and every staff, we made the very prominent good performance. The net performance was 7.2 MBOE. The reserve longevity is over 10 years, and the replacement is 176%. The price has been maintained quite well per barrel, $28.5. Profit attributed to the parent company was up 11.4%, up to RMB 137.9 billion. Cash flow from operating was RMB 220.9 billion.
To share the benefits, the board of directors had advised to pay the annual dividend, HKD 1.4, up by 12%. For the continuous years, we committed for the continuous growth and the cost management compared with 2013. The net profit has been up 77%, and the oil barrel cost has been reduced to 37%. We consolidated the competitive edge of the cost. Our company has the very strong performance to offset the uncertainty of the oil price. We have the resilience in the fluctuations and continue to deliver values to the shareholders. The profit attributed to the parent company remains the very high level, RMB 137.9 billion. Branch price has been reduced a good amount, and other peer companies reduced their profits. We maintain the high quality management and sustainable growth. The cost has been maintained, and the profit has been up 11%.
We are leading the industry in this regard. Now I'd like to cover the operation highlights. First, on the exploration on the offshore, we have 11 new discoveries and successfully assessed 30 structures with oil and gas. On the online, we have assessed Shenfu construct, which is amounted to over 10 million cubic meters. Because of the technology and theoretical innovations, the exploration has generated very good results in Bohai, Shenzhen, Fuhua area. Under the new guiding principles, we got Longkou 7-1 area and assessed the Bozhong area as well. Thanks to the new innovation of the theory, we discovered Qinhuangdao 29-6 . We are rolling out the cylinder in exploration. As the result, the reservation can be transferred to, can be converted to production quite quickly in South China Sea.
We have the new theory of exploration, and we found the first of this kind in the whole world and figured out the Lingshui 36-1 , and that is the shallow water oil field. Thanks to the basin exploration theory development, we found out the 100,000 size of the oil field. We continue to develop the rolling exploration at the oversea markets at the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the countries in the Belt and Road and Guyana. Guyana and Stabroek has been founded. The Bluefin has been founded there. The BOE would be over 11 billion. By expectation, within this area, there will be eight phases of the production going on. The production capacity will be over 1.7 million barrels a day. In the meantime, in Mozambique, Brazil, and Iraq, we got in total 10 new areas of the contracts. The offshore exploration has been expanded further.
In 2024, the approved reserve has been meeting a record high, and the replacement rate has been over 167%, and the longevity has been maintaining at 10 years. We consolidated the foundation. Our company in both home and abroad, the net profit, net production amount has been growing 5.6% thanks to the contribution from Bozhong 19-6 oil field. At the offshore, the growth has been 10.8% thanks mainly to Payara project, which is in operation in Guyana. On the operation, and we have documented, described the oil field quite accurately and filling the water efficiently, enhancing the efficiency and productivity. Therefore, for the existing oil field, the production can be very stable even up. In 2024, the production ratio has been up 1.2% ratio, and the natural deteriorate has been down to 9.2%. Let's look at the new project in 2024.
Suizhong 36-1 Wangluda 52 oil field adjustment project had been done in this year, in the last year, which is the remarkable achievement. At the peak time, the production amount was 30,000 barrels, 30,000 BOE. The digital and intelligent measures are both adapted to do that. At the peak time of Bozhong, the peak production was 18,000 BOE. At Shanghai, the peak performance was 27,000 BOE. In the meantime, that helped the peak performance to 4.5 m3 . Liuhua 11-1 and 4-1 oil field redevelopment project has been launched last year. That gives the new vitality to the existing oil field. The peak performance was 17,000 BOE. Wushi 23-5 production was 18,000. It is the first electricity project at the South China Sea. It is also the first one with comprehensive utility of energy. Mary in Brazil had launched two phases in the last year.
The peak performance was 590,000, and Long Island in Canada got the average performance of 8,200 barrels. With the value production idea adopted in the operation, as the result, the cost from Canada has been below the average of the co-company. The drill well efficiency has been improved. The daily ratio for the five years achieved the best in the last year. For the first time, we founded this stable achievement. In the existing construction, we have over 60 projects that are ongoing. In the South China Sea, we made the first, the deep water jacket plus cylindrical FPSO operation model, which is a good model for the following kinds of this oil field development. We set an example, and we further enhanced the standardization of engineering.
The standardization efficiency has been improved 27%, and the large quantity procurement also reduced the cost, and we reduced the efficiency and the waste. The time we saved were almost two months. Security has been put at the first, and the environmental protection, human, and equipment are all the major concerns and priority in our operation. Through the high quality standard for safety, we enhanced and ensured the high quality development. In the meantime, we went through some super typhoons in this extreme weather, and the operation during that extreme weather and after was quite smooth. The company committed to the technology innovation. In 2024, shallow water production system had been applied. For the first time, the heat refueling Yuchai No. 1 had been put in the operation. The first cylindrical FPSO high point No.
The first water jacket platform was both put in operation for the first time in Asia. We diversified the exploration methods then. We got two innovations that were awarded by the National Progression Award for the Grade 1 and Grade 2. We are speeding up the transformation for digital development. We set up the Shanghai No. 1 and Qinhuangdao 32-6. Those are the two landmarks. In the meantime, Dongfang Baiyun Smart Intelligence are launched. Relying on the digital technology, it's combined well with the traditional industry. In addition to our major business, we were proactively in green production in developing. We have replaced 760 million kW of electricity with the green one, and the Guanlan has been operating quite smoothly. The power generated can be amounted to 26 million kWs. Keep green development projects was progressing quite well.
The first 5 GW offshore power generation facility were set it up with Suizhong Jingzhou, were set it off as well. That marks the largest power was there, and the full time was very stable. We set it Bohai Hainan, the two CCUS base. Enping 15-1 , Ledong 15-1 CCS are both exemplary projects, and in total, they refuse carbon dioxide over 110,000. The first China self-made CCS project was put in operation. As the responsible company, we attached great importance on ESG, and we are committed for the best governance solution and minimize the impacts of the environment and maximize the contribution to the society. In 2024, we strengthened the policy making and optimizing the structure and enhancing the capacity and put great importance on the management capacity improvement. We keep the compliance and stable management. Now let's have a look on the financial results.
In 2024, our realized price were quite in line with the market. The sales revenue and the profit attribute to the parent company were rather high. Our profit attributed to the parent company was RMB 137.9 billion, mainly because of the increasement of reserve and production. We keep the strong capacity of creating more values. We maintained the high efficiency development. Therefore, the cash flow has been up to RMB 220 billion. The free cash flow has been RMB 97.5 billion. By the end of last year, the financial performance was quite healthy. The equity was added RMB 55 billion. The total asset was over RMB 1 trillion. Speaking about the CapEx, the company spent the CapEx on exploration and other areas in total over RMB 100 billion that supported the boosting of the productivity and the kickoff of the new projects.
We have got the results of the cost reduction, and the cost per barrel has been down 5.3% as the interest of the interest rate changes. The barrel DDA has been up 2%, which is mainly because of the structure changes. Our company has attached great importance to the return to the shareholder and actively sharing the development results to the shareholders. The Board of Directors advised to pay the distribution, the dividend HKD 1.4, and the whole year. The dividend payout ratio had been 44.7%. Overall speaking, the dividend per share had been up 12%. It is 2.47 times of that of 2013. We buy back 3,681 shares. I would like to revisit some targets that have been disclosed earlier this year. We will commit to the improvement of productivity, green transformation, and the technology innovation. In the meantime, we need to enhance the quality and the proficiency.
We will increase the value capacity, generation capacity, and generate more values to the shareholders. In the next couple of years, the production will keep the growth rate, and we will be confident to achieve the targets for the three years. Last but not least, I want to emphasize again the dividend policy for 2024- 2027. Under the approval of the board of directors, the payout ratio will be no lower than 45%. According to the changes of the market condition and taking upholding the principle of returning to the shareholders, considering the willingness of the shareholders and the strategic decisions, we might adjust those dividend policies when it's appropriate. That is my presentation. Thank you very much.
Thanks very much, Ms. Wang. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's have the Q&A session. If you'd like to have the director exchanges with the board of directors, please raise up your hand. If you're joining with us online, you can press star one. Before your question, please let us know your name and affiliation. For those joining us from the telephone, please slow down a bit.
感谢管理层的给的提问机会。我是瑞银证券的郭一凡。我想请教两个问题，一个是关于我们产量的一个长期增长潜力。在过去这几年，在经过了我们产量非常快速的一个增长之后，我们产量的基数也在逐渐变大，在实现增长的难度也在增加。请问我们如何来看未来十五五期间我们的产量的一个增长的潜力，以及我们在继续挖钱增效的这样的一个措施？然后第二个问题想问一下深海科技。深海科技被国家列入了核心战略的领域，这个对我们公司的发展提供哪些新的机遇？然后我们在深海科技方面又会有哪些更多的一些新发展和新机遇？谢谢。
Thanks very much for the opportunity of raising up questions from UBS or Yifan. I'd like to raise up two questions. First, about the sustainable growth of production volume. As we all know, the production volume has been growing tremendously in the past couple of years. As a result, we are standing in a rather high base at this moment. Is that kind of the difficulty for the company to maintain this growth momentum? What will be your growth targets in the next term?
How are you going to improve the efficiency and productivity in the meantime? My second question is about the deep ocean technology or deep water technology, which are included in the national strategies at this moment. What kind of opportunity the company could seize from this kind of the new development? What can we expect in terms of the new technology from the company?
[Foreign language] 这个问题我来回答。首先，我们在年初的时候发布了三年的公司的发展的指引。我们25年是要到760到780，然后到26年、27年都有一个比较明确的一些数字。这个我觉得应该是还是本着对股东负责任的一个态度，我们努力有一定增长，但是增长比例跟以前比可能是有所放缓。应该说我们还是有信心，有能力，也有资源基础来保证这三年的指引的完成。十五五因为现在正还在启动整个十五五的规划的阶段，我们要按照国家的战略的要求，行业的发展的趋势和我们公司自身的这个发展的要求来谋划。所以十五五的整体情况现在还不能在这个地方说，但是前三年的我们都已经发布指引了。这是产量的方面的这个方面的问题。第二个降本增效应该说，首先这个低成本这个发展战略是我们海油长期秉承的我们的核心竞争力。所以这一点来说，我们要持续的在降本增效方面要发力，保持我们成本领先的核心竞争优势。这个有很多方式，就包括我们的两提一降稳油控水工程标准化，叫优快壮晚景。现在我们提出的是优质，智力的智，壮晚景。还有我们的精益管理，一切成本皆可降。还有我们最重要的一点就是保持我们高效的安全生产水平。因为我们说安全是我们最大的优势，也是我们最薄弱的，永远最薄弱的环节。所以我们永远要保持这根红线和底线的水平。同时我们运用我们的岸电油气跟新能源的融合，还有我们的区域化的开发理念等等方面，然后持续的做好我们的降本增效的工作，保持低成本的核心竞争优势，为股东创造更大的价值。这是第一个问题。 好，第二个问题我来回答一下这个女士。中国海油作为深海油气开发的主力军，在深海的科技领域，近年来也取得了积极的进展，包括我们在深海的地震采集，我们自主研发了海进海外的水下和海底的采集系统，这个还是比较复杂的。另外在深海的钻探技术方面，我们也实现了近万米的大斜度水平井的钻探成功。同时在深海工程的技术发展上，我们去年研发的海基2号导管加平台和浮石圆筒的FPSO成功的应用在南海的东部深水气田，并且获得了中央企业年度的十大国资重企。同时在开发生产上，我们大家也知道我们深海一号能源站自主设计建造和投产，实现了我们国家海洋油气开发向1500米超深水的成功的迈进。这个项目也荣获了2024年国家科技进步的一等奖，一等奖排在第一位。当然，从我们在新能源领域的发展也在探索，就是超深水的浮石深远海风电是我们双北的漂浮式风电也是成功的投产运用。尤其是去年我们经受了刚才讲到的超强台风，也是历史上中国海油遇到的最大的台风，无敌的冲击。咱们海油灌篮号保证了正常的运行，全年发电量达到了2600千瓦小时。未来中国海油将以国家的战略为引领，继续深化深海的科技创新，推动海洋油气资源的高效开发。同时也加快在深海探测方面的技术的研发和应用，积极推进海上新能源产业的发展，为股东创造更大的价值。谢谢。
Thanks very much for your two questions. I think earlier this year we have launched the developmental plan for the company in the next coming three years. In 2025, the target would be 760-780, and we also set the clear targets in the following two years, 2026 and 2027. For doing that, we have upholding the responsible and being accountable attitudes to our shareholders. That basically means we will continue to improve our productivity.
In the meantime, probably the growth rate will be declined a bit, but we will continue the trend of growing because of our capacity, our confidence, and our foundation. We are capable to do so. For the 15th five years plan, of course, we all know it is at the planning stage. It is still quite early and primitive. Therefore, we will definitely follow the guidelines of the nation and the trend of the industry, as well as to serve this country's development through the business operation. We can't disclose much for the 15th five years plan because it is still at the planning stage. I believe we will for sure deliver, but you all know the three years developmental plan for the company, which is the clear idea on our way forward.
Speaking about the reduction of the cost and improvement of the efficiency, of course, that is our long-standing competitive edge of CNOOC, and we will be consolidating that and solidifying that as time goes on because the edge of the cost has been one of the very strong points of the company, such as we have various ways to do that. We have two improvements, one induction. We have the new measures to deal with the drilling wells and the precise management of all of those platforms. I also want to mention our standard for the safety, which has always been the foundation for our high-quality development. It is one of the things that we show we are so proud of, but we never dropped our conscience on this regard because it can be a really problematic area.
We are joining the new development, the emerging technology, and the regional development, all of the things that are for the purpose to reduce the cost further and improve the efficiency. Now I move to the second question about the new technology. As we know, CNOOC has always been the pillar or the pioneer in developing the deep ocean or deep water technology, and the innovation has been generated by us one after another. One worth mentioning is the earthquake data collection or seismic data collection measures or the technology we just developed, which could enable us to collect the data from the deep water or the seabed. Also, the drilling technology has enabled us to drill at the quite deep water and even at the very deep slope of the seabed.
Speaking about the engineering project, we have done a couple of that in the past couple of the years, like the water jacket platform we set it up and the cylindrical FPSO. We set it up in the South China Sea and gas field. All of those are demonstrating our strong capacity, and that project I just mentioned has been awarded by the Central People's Government because of the progress, of course. I think we will continue to do this kind of effort and bring more new deep water, deep ocean technology into the practice. I think by our progress, we have already expanded our exploration to the deep water, like 1,500 meters deep, and we will carry on to do so. Because that specific technology, we were awarded by the Technology Innovation Progress Award by the People's Government.
Speaking about the future and also the future of the new energy development, we have sparing no efforts in progressing these. We have set it up the floating offshore wind farm, which were put in the operation last year, and that farm went through the very extreme typhoon that was the most destructive we ever went through in CNOOC, and that project demonstrated a strong resilience to the destructive extreme weather. For the whole year, that wind farm generated the power 260,000 kilowatts. We will continue this trend and generate more new technology for the country and put forward the development of the technology. That's all of my answer.
Thank you. [Foreign language] 我们的第一条问题是回答是来自于公司副董事长首席执行官周兴怀先生。第二条问题的回答是来自于公司董事长汪东靖先生。谢谢。好的，我们欢迎下一条提问。第二条提问，我们第二排这位女士。 您好，我是美国彭博社的记者。想请教您的是，就是天然气板块这一块的经营利润，可否请您介绍一下？然后想请教，就是现在在中美贸易摩擦和包括原油制裁的这个背景下，咱们作为进出口的贸易商来讲，这块的策略会有什么调整吗？谢谢。
From Bloomberg, I'd like to have an idea of the operating profit of the natural gas under the big background of the China-US tension and the ongoing sanctions. What will be your adjusted strategy to deal with the latest development?
[Foreign language] 谢谢你的提问。我来先回答第一个问题。天然气应该说是个能源转型过程中最为重要的一个过渡产品。应该说公司也是特别重视天然气的勘探开发和有效的提升我们天然气的产量。天然气有个特点，现在比以前好一点，有个液化，就是个液化的过程。如果没有液化的技术的话，它跟原油是不太一样的，就容易全世界容易进行一个贸易。天然气以前只能管道或者附近就直接销纳，所以现在就变成一个。天然气的角度，从我们公司的角度来说，我们主要在国内，我们是靠近沿海，广东、江苏、浙江、渤海湾。所以整体上我们是一个相对高价值的这么一个销纳的区域。所以这保证了我们海上天然气的整体的相对好的一个收益水平。同时，由于我们天然气整体，他刚才说我们如果要进行液化，它就要增加很大的一块成本。所以我们整体天然气的开发方案在决策时都已经是签署好的长协，所以保证我们天然气的稳定生产和价值的平稳实现。所以我们觉得对这一块来说，我觉得我们一直就保持好的这种用长期的模式来锁定我们稳定的天然气的一个战略的发展。这个下来我们肯定还是要按照我们市场原则，尽量的把我们天然气销纳好，能够同时实现更好的一个价值。在这个基础上，我们通过不断的勘探开发的创新来提升稳步提升我们天然气的产量。这是第一个方面。第二个方面是你刚说还是我说？第二个。贸易对我们影响大不大？中美贸易战。你刚说吧。你刚说吧。我来回答这个问题。的的确确在目前地缘政治比较紧张的情况下，而且比较大的不确定情况下，实际上对每一个企业来讲都面临比较大的挑战。中国海油一直是比较重视我们的合规管理的工作，所以我们一直持续的跟踪相关的一些风险的变化，加强了内部合规体系的建设，包括贸易合规方面。我们实际上对我们相关的贸易伙伴，包括合规的条款，也加入我们相应的条款当中。所以整体来说，我们希望就是关注外部的不断的变化，同时加强内部的一些合规能力的建设和风险控制能力的建设，确保公司在依法合规的情况下，确保公司的能够各方面业务，包括贸易业务能够平稳的运行。我想我就回答这么多。谢谢。
Thanks for your first question about the natural gas. I think it is the crucial part in the new energy transition. Our company has always been attached to the great importance in the exploration, production, and the productivity development of the natural gas. I think now we have the liquidifying technology, then we have LNG. Without it, the natural gas can be transported with very limited means by pipelines or can be only transported in the surrounding area. Our natural gas in the mainland are mainly consumed in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and the Bohai Bay. Those areas are normally generated at rather high values, so we can maintain the good profit-making margin from those areas.
Of course, the LNG or the liquefying technology allows the natural gas can be transported further, but in the company strategy, we lock down the production and the price and the value of the natural gas through the long-term contracts. The long-term contracts is the crucial part of our market strategy that gives the stable momentum or stabilize our sales and also give the very strong foundation for us to create further values in selling or in making these natural gas businesses. Of course, we will rely on the technology innovations, inventions in the future, and enhance the productivity and efficiency of natural gas. Speaking about your second question about trading, of course, geopolitical issues is full of tensions, and that generated lots of uncertainties in the recent years.
This challenge should be faced by every company, and our company has always been attaching great importance on the risking factors and the compliance issues. Our compliance also definitely includes the trading aspects, and we already added the compliance regulation or the factors related to compliance to our trading partners. What I can offer is that we close a keep an eye or we pay close attention to the external environment and the changes of the external trading situation. In the meantime, we enhance our capacity internally on managing the risky factor well and maintain the high compliance standard. By doing so, we can make our business compel with relevant rules and laws, and then offer a stable foundation for further development.
Thank you.[Foreign language] 我们的第一条问题的回答是来自于公司副董事长首席执行官周兴怀先生。第二条问题的回答是来自于董事会秘书徐玉高先生。好的，我们欢迎下一条提问。第二排这位先生， Neil Beveridge, please.
Thank you, Neil Beveridge, Bernstein . First of all, congratulations on what I thought was an excellent result for 2024. I've got two questions. First of all, free cash flow generation continues to be very strong. You're holding a lot of cash. Under what circumstances would you consider raising the minimum dividend payout above 45%? Secondly, can you give any guidance on what level of share buybacks we should expect for 2025? Do you think it would be more or less than what we saw in 2024? The second question is around an asset which is becoming increasingly important for the company, and that's Guyana. There is an arbitration dispute going on with CNOOC, Exxon, Chevron. Now, I know you can't comment on that arbitration dispute, but can you give any guidance as to when you think we will get a decision on the arbitration result? Secondly, if preemption rights are successful, would you exercise those preemption rights if you won the case? Thank you.
[Foreign language] Beveridge Bernstein的问题。首先，恭喜管理层，2024年公司取得了亮眼的业绩。我有以下几条问题，具体来说是有两个。第一个是关于自由现金流的。公司目前来看，自由现金流在手现金量都非常强劲，数量之多。在何种情况下，公司会考虑将最低的分红比率提高超过45%，提高至45%以上的水平？同时，第二个部分还想请公司请教一下，能不能给一些关于股票回购的指引？这个回购会比2024年来看2025年是会更多还是会下降？另外一方面是我想关心的，我想提问的是一个关于公司的比较关键的资产，就是圭亚那的资产。目前我们也了解到，现在正有一个正在进行的仲裁。这一个仲裁我也清楚，公司目前可能尚未能够对其进行过多的评论。能否给予一些相关的指引？同时，如果仲裁成功的话，公司是否大家公司对于仲裁的决定有什么样的看法？同时，如果仲裁成功的话，会否执行仲裁所判定的相关权益？谢谢这位先生的问题。公司一直以来重视股东的回报，也积极跟股东分享发展成果。刚才在介绍中也说到了，2024年全年股息是每股HKD 1.40含税，同比增长了12%。全年股息支付率达到了44.7%，也践行了对市场的承诺。公司在决策派息的时候，主要会考虑公司的盈利水平、资产负债情况、资本支出的计划，同时也会对标国际同行，保持在同行中的派息水平领先。刚才在汇报介绍中也说到了，公司将根据市场环境的变化，秉承回报股东的原则，综合考虑公司股东的意愿、战略规划、经营状况等因素，适时对上述的分红政策进行调整。
Thanks very much for your question. I'd like to answer your first question about the dividend. The company has always been committed in distributing the dividend and returning to the investors. As I mentioned earlier, the dividend for the whole year, last year 2024, was HKD 1.4, including tax, and the payout ratio was 44.7%. I think our decision on the dividend is mainly based on the profitability, the gearing ratio, CapEx, as well as the performance of our peer companies internationally. We will make the decision to ensure that we are leading our industry. In the meantime, we will watch over the changing situation of the market and maintain the principle of returning to the investors and also make our strategic planning appropriate and keep the sufficient resourcing for that.
Also, we will consider our operating situation, then make the decision on the dividend payout ratio.
The second question is a sensitive question and a good question as well. First, I would like to express my many thanks for your paying more attention to Xilocus Business and Development. I want our Chief Lawyer to answer your next question.
[Foreign language] 谢谢 Neo，感谢你一直关注我们圭亚那的资产。实际上，目前仲裁也是实际上也引起了全球的一些，包括律师界，包括我们很多投行的分析师朋友的关注。那么仲裁按照当时的我们的合同的机会的约定，实际上按照 ICC 的仲裁程序，实际上在有条不紊地在开展。我们在去年的，就 2024 年 7 月份，已经是三名仲裁员都已经到位，组成了仲裁庭，然后召开了案件管理的会议。就是各方也按照程序的要求提交了相应的证据。那么按照计划，应该是在今年的 5 月份，仲裁庭第一次会开庭。当然结果的话，我们肯定是我们自己对我们自己肯定是有信心的。至于未来，就是在如果是我们赢了官司之后是否行权，从公司角度来讲，会选择对公司利益和股东利益最大化的方案来进行评判。所以如果是官司到时候有结果出来之后，包括如果行权的话，公司会按照程序，我们会及时地去对外的公布，或者是按照合规的要求我们来公告。好吧，谢谢 Neo 对这个视频的观众。
Thanks very much for your attention to this key issue on the ongoing arbitration case. Yes, as you know, it is the concern of the capital markets, the law of the international legal service industry as well. I think, as you know, this arbitration is undergoing according to the ICC procedures, and in July 2024, the three arbitrators were appointed and the tribunal had been set up. The pre-meeting before the tribunal was also held, and the relevant evidence and the evidences, the documents were produced as well.
By the timeline in May this year, the first tribunal will be called, and for the result of the arbitration, of course, we are quite confident for this case. After winning this case, if possible, whether we should exercise our rights is quite depending on the benefits of the company and the shareholders. We will keep the market updated and disclose the relevant information when it comes to appropriate time. Yes, of course, it is depending on the results of the arbitration first.
[Foreign language] 好的，感谢。我们欢迎下一条提问。好，第五排这位先生。 谢谢管理层。我是摩根士丹利的分析师吕宏良。我的两个问题是一个是有关自然减值的问题，一个是有关天然气价格的问题。就自然减值这一块，我看去年计提了将近80亿的自然减值，比去年把钱高了很多。我想问一下，我们做自然减值的节奏是什么？就是原则是什么？是不是业绩好一点就多做一点？在低油价环境下可能就少做一点。第二个问题是有关天然气这一块。我看天然气价格四季度，包括去年全年都偏弱了一些，比同比。这主要原因是什么？是不是跟核气西伯利亚一号增量有关？谢谢。
From Morgan Stanley, Lu Hongliang. I got two questions. First is about the asset depreciation. Last year, I found the coverage for the asset depreciation were 8 billion. It was quite high compared with the year before. Therefore, I want to ask the question, what is the rationale of the principles and the idea of the progress timeline for the asset depreciation?
Is that true that when the performance is going good, it's going to be good, more coverage will be issued, and when it's not that good, and less depreciation? Is that true for that? My second question is about natural gas, specifically on the last quarter of 2024, the fourth quarter. Year-on-year comparison, I found the price was a bit weak. What is the reason behind? Is that related to Siberian capacity improvement?
[Foreign language] 谢谢先生的提问。第一个问题来说，公司一直以来严格按照会计准则进行减值的相关测试工作。我们会定期检查长期股权投资、固定资产、油气资产等相关资产是否存在减值迹象。如果资产的可回收金额低于账面价值，那这个差额就要提及减值准备，同时计入当期损益。本次的资产减值主要是一些海外资产受外部因素的影响，出现了减值迹象。经评估之后，确实资产的可回收金额低于了账面价值。未来公司将一如既往地严格按照会计准则要求进行减值测试的评估。
I'd like to answer your first question. First, on the depreciation, we stringently apply the accounting principles in depreciation, and when the asset value is lower than the book value and there is the gap or the difference, it is possible and necessary to do the depreciation. We will watch closely on the traces of the depreciation and whether we should issue the coverage for that depreciation. The coverage will be counted in the PL profit and losses in that term. For this time, of course, we found some traces of depreciation at our offshore asset, and the collectible value is definitely lower than the book value. Therefore, we do that.
[Foreign language] 好，关于第二个问题，天然气价格的问题，我来做一下回答。在全球范围内，天然气价格是波动的。它受我们的气候因素、原油的能源价格的变化，以及我们一些地缘形势的变化受到影响。去年主要是在第四季度，价格在同比来讲，这个价格降得是比较低。主要原因是两个方面，一个是原油的价格在去年是一个下降的一个趋势。我们天然气和国际的天然气价格和原油之间是有一个系数关系，这个状况下。同时，去年整体上是一个暖冬，尤其是全球的北部是个暖冬。天然气的消耗减弱，这个不管是在中国还是在我们整个的全球其他的北方地区都是如此。这样的供需关系的影响之下，导致这个价格有所下降。对于中国来讲，我们国内的天然气主要都是在国内，全部都是在国内进行消化。中国天然气价格随着国际天然气价格的影响，也会跟着有一些变化。但是整体上是随着市场的变化的同时，它的变化的幅度较国际上是比较的均衡。所以在国内的我们天然气的价格的实现上，我们还是基本上是稳定的。谢谢。
Second question about your natural gas price. Yes, of course, globally speaking, this price is fluctuating, which is mainly depending on the climate situation, the oil price, the energy price, and the geopolitical issues. Speaking specifically for the fourth quarter of last year, the price dropped to the rather low level, which was attributed to mainly two reasons. First, the crude oil price was going down for the whole of last year, and the natural gas has the coefficient relation with the price, has the coefficient relation with the crude oil price.
Secondly, we all know that last year we had the warmer winter for the whole northern hemisphere of the world. Therefore, the consumption amount dropped down a bit, which includes both China and many other countries in the northern hemisphere of the world. That means the supply and demand relation changed a bit that caused the changes of the price. As you know, our natural gas were all consumed domestically in mainland China. Therefore, we do not have really direct relation with the global price, but of course, we will be influenced by the global natural gas changes. I have to say, our price of the natural gas in the Chinese market last year were much more balanced than the global one, and that is a very stable foundation for our price.
[Foreign language] 好的，谢谢。以上的回答，第一条问题的回答是来自于公司财务部总经理王宇凡女士。第二条问题的回答是来自于公司总裁严宏涛先生。我们下一条问题是来自于线上证券日报的向严涛记者，请继续您的提问。好，我们下一条问题是来自于线上证券日报的向严涛记者，请继续您的提问。听得到吗？可以听到，可以麻烦稍微再大声一些。好的。好，谢谢。谢谢管理层。我主要想请教两个问题。一个是公司持续推进增储上产，主要是出于哪些方面考虑，以及增储上产的方向主要有哪些？另外，公司对于短期以及中长期的一个原油需求怎么判断的？谢谢。
Security Daily[ Xiang Hongtao], I got two questions and thanks for the opportunity of reading up the question. First, the company has always been promoting the improvement of reserve and productivity. What is your take on that, and what is the way we will follow, the company will follow in the future? The second, what is your idea on the short-term, mid-term, and long-term crude oil price?
[Foreign language] 谢谢证券日报的记者。第一个问题由我来回答。增储上场应该说分两个方面，一个是我们国内的，另外一个就是我们的海外。国内应该说我们中国的原油的对外依存度已经超过70%了。应该说保证国家的能源安全也是我们作为这种上市公司也是应尽的一种社会责任。同时，我们在理性保证国家安全的能源安全的同时实现我们自身的更好的发展。应该说我们中国海油在规模化，在我们的中国海域经过40多年的这种一种谈判开发，我们应该说还是对我们中国海油的增储上场还是在近期，中近期应该还是有比较强的一个信心，保持我们的，就刚才说的我们三年的指引的完成，同时尽量的扩大我们天然气的产量和占比。所以我们觉得一个是有这个需求，也是一个责任，加上自身的发展。所以我们国内应该是要保持我们原油的稳定及以上，来加快我们天然气的发展。同时，我们海外聚焦于我们的两岸一带，我们高价值的勘探开发区，能够持续的进行我们的项目的优化和新项目的获取，以价值最大化这个方向来实现我们的海外的布局和海外的价值实现。这是我回答的第一个问题。谢谢。
Thanks very much. Speaking about the double improvement of both reserve and production, I think there are two layers on this question: offshore and onshore. Speaking of the domestic market or the onshore market, China's crude oil dependency ratio, I mean the demand, is over 70%. We have to safeguard the energy security of the country. As an energy company, it is part of our social responsibility.
In the meantime, it is also the demand for us to develop further. We have been developing in the oil exploration and production for over 40 years. We have been standing on a very strong foundation to improve both the reserve and the production in the near and in the midterm. We are confident to do so. As I mentioned, we have released the three-year plan for the next coming years, and we are confident to be able to deliver those targets. In the meantime, we will improve the volume and the percentage of the natural gas as well. By doing this, for one side, we meet the demand of our self-development; on the other side, we carry on the social responsibility. We can have the stable development as well as giving a larger portion of the development for the natural gas.
Speaking about the offshore, we will be focusing on the overseas market. We will be focusing on the value creation. We have the two plus one strategic area where we will do the optimization of the existing projects and acquire the valuable new projects. By doing so, we could maximize the value creation and deliver more values to the company.
[Foreign language] 我来回答一下第二个问题，就是关于原油需求的问题。原油需求，我们以往的话，通常会认为原油需求是相对比较刚性的，特别是除非经济出现大的问题，特别是出现经济危机，对原油需求的影响就会比较大。除此之外，应该它是相对比较刚性的。其实我们近几年看来的话，这个刚性是得到验证的。我们是专门做石油价格预测的。这在所有变量当中，需求的是最难的，供给相对容易一些，现在看来也不容易了，但至少以往是相对容易一些。现在看来需求最大的影响就是我们就感觉到，特别是近几个月来就有点力不从心了。这边最大的问题就是美国贸易政策，还有其他，包括对汽车的全球汽车增加加征关税等等，这些其实对原油需求都是有比较大的影响的。所以说现在看来，至少到目前为止，我们觉得这个刚性，原油需求的刚性其实还在，因为坏消息非常多，但原油价格基本还是在$70。我今天看了一下，应该不能够在$72左右。这个算是相对于经济的不确定性来说，原油价格还是相对比较确定的。但它之所以比较确定，那只能说需求跟供给相对比较确定，至少目前是如此。接下来我们感觉到这个需求会波动会比较大。这个之所以说波动比较大，它可能是来自于这个不确定性。就这个贸易上的话是算数的，是确定的，经济学是这么定义的。现实当中谁赢得多，谁输得多，谁输得少也不好确定，不是说一眼看得过去就能看得很清楚的。所以现在能做的事情，也就是说像中国海油这样子，像管理层承诺这样子，做好自己的事情，增长，控制成本，增加产量，来应对这种不确定性。但是也要积极的应对这种不确定性的即将到来的不确定性，这个应该中国海油也会做好相应的准备。谢谢。
Speaking about the demand, I'd like to take this question. Previously, we have been always considering the demand for the crude oil can be quite strong, resilient, or there is a linear relation, but it might be the case anymore. We are then experts in predicting the oil price, which are mainly depending on the demand and the supply.
Previously, even until now, it is rather difficult to predict the actual demand, and it was not that difficult to have an idea on how much will be supplied, but now it is not that case anymore. In recent months, we feel sorry to what's going on, and we found the predicting for the demand has been impacted by a lot of factors, such as the U.S. trading policy, the tariff to be imposed to the vehicles, and many others. We still found the rather strong Brent oil price. As I checked earlier today, it was $72. You see, there are a lot of ongoing uncertainty, but the price of the oil showed the strong resilience or certainty here. Why? Because it is anchored by the rather strong supply and demand relation, and this is kind of determined.
Speaking about the future of the demand, of course, there will be a lot of fluctuations. It will be volatile for sure. There are a couple of reasons first. Why it is uncertain? Because of the trade relations and because of the loose relations economically. In practice, how much will be lost by each party is not yet determined. Under this kind of huge uncertainty, what can we do? CNOOC can only deliver a good job and improve the efficiency and control well of our cost to offset the uncertainty in this backdrop. We will be proactive to deal with the uncertainty and well prepared for that.
[Foreign language] 好的，谢谢。以上的回答，第一条问题的回答是来自于公司副董事长首席执行官周兴怀先生。第二条问题的回答是来自于公司独立非执行董事林伯强先生。好的，我们欢迎下一条提问。第一排这位女士。你好，我是路透的记者。我想请问一下初创美国墨西哥湾资产的进展，不知道有没有遇到中国或者是美国政府审批的一些障碍，预计什么时候能完成？到时候公司会不会考虑向股东派发特别股息？下一步公司会不会出售美国陆上的页岩油次一项目的权益？第二个问题是，今天有报道说中国政府指示国有企业跟李嘉诚的相关企业不要有新的交易。公司跟哈斯基的合作，在勘探跟开发的那些合作会不会有一些影响？现在公司跟哈斯基的合作主要是哪些项目？谢谢。
From Rory Tesna I got two questions. First, what is the update of the transaction of the sales for the sales of the US Mexico Gulf or Mexico Bay asset? Have you ever encountered any difficulties in terms of the approval from the administration of both China and the United States? In addition, once this transaction will be completed, are you going to consider to issue special dividends for the shareholders? In the meantime, after this transaction, are you going to consider to sell other oil and gas projects at the onshore of the United States?
Second question is related to what has been happening this morning. As I noticed that the central government advised the ICOE to stop their ongoing business with Li Ka-shing and you have the cooperation with Husky, will this kind of cooperation be impacted by the latest development from the central government? What is the scope of your cooperation with Husky?
[Foreign language] 谢谢路周社记者的提问。你说的第一个问题我来回答一下。关于墨西哥中海油的资产出售，目前整个各项工作按照计划在推进，总体的进展是顺利的。一旦完成交割的话，我们将及时给予市场的披露。具体的时间，因为披露的程序还是比较复杂的，所以我们也不能确定是具体的什么时间，但是我相信不会长。同时你也关注到美国陆上的我们公司的资产是否出售，这个目前还没有提到我们的研究人成长。我这里面想强调的一点就是公司是着眼于全球的布局，不是局限于某一地区去开展业务，致力于优化全球的资产组合，持续为股东创造价值。那么在具体的资产取舍方面，公司会充分考虑其自身的技术管控和创造的能力。谢谢。
Speaking about the selling of the asset at the Gulf of Mexico, United States, I'm happy you get this question. You raise up this question. I think the progress is quite in the timeline of our original thinking, and when the transaction closes, we will for sure disclose to the market at the appropriate time. It involves a rather complicated approval procedure, so we are not sure about the exact timing at this moment. I do not think it will be long. In the meantime, I know you have noticed on the possibility of selling other assets at the onshore of the United States. I do not think it is a part of our agenda yet, but I want to emphasize one thing by answering your question. We have the global thinking as a hope for the company instead of focusing on a single region. Therefore, we will consider the global strategy in order to produce sustainable values for our shareholders.
The combination of our portfolio will also be based on this kind of global thinking. We'll also be based on our technology management, governance capacity, and efficiency.
[Foreign language] 这边有一个问题，请公司总法律顾问徐高先生回答。好，谢谢我们路透的记者。一般来说，业内发布会基本上都关心公司的业绩比较多。今天我的问题还是不少的。我们最近大家都在关注相关的交易，我本人也看到一些消息，这些交易我们不评论。但是涉及到哈斯基的合作，就是哈斯基，我们实际上现在它的股东实际上叫Cenovus，一家加拿大的企业。我不太清楚我们李嘉诚先生的家族有没有Cenovus相关的持股，不太清楚。我可以告诉你的是，我们和哈斯基的合作一切正常，平稳有序。我们的合作主要还是在集中的南海，既有现在在产的油田，也有在勘探期的我们的产品分成合同方面的合作。所以我们整体的合作还是非常的平稳，没有受到任何的其他的外在的一些因素的干扰。好，谢谢你的问题。
Thanks very much again for your second question. Normally at the result announcement, I want to answer much questions because the key focus would be the performance of the company, but this year might be a bit unusual. For the trading that you mentioned or the transaction you just mentioned, of course, we are all aware of that, but we refrained from giving any comments on that. The Husky company you mentioned, the shareholder of that company of Cenovus is a Canada or Canada-based company. I'm not sure whether Mr. Li Ka-shing or his family holds any shares of Cenovus, but what I can tell is that our cooperation with Husky so far has been normal, smooth, and in good order. I think our cooperation mainly covers the project of the South Sea, including both the exploration and the production products. What I can tell is that we are free from any impact from the transaction you just mentioned.
[Foreign language] 好的，谢谢。我们这一条问题，第一条问题的回答是来自公司董事长汪东进先生。第二条问题的回答是来自于公司董事会秘书徐玉高先生。好的，我们欢迎下一条提问。下一条提问，我们第三排这位女士。 好，谢谢管理层给我这个机会。我是天风证券分析师张希希。我有两个问题请教。第一个就是关于深海的发展。那么对于公司来讲，由于结合天然气的大气区的发现，我们有没有可能在未来几年，无论是在产量目标上还是在资本开支上面，会超出之前三年战略指引？这是第一个问题。然后第二个问题，因为我们看到像中石油和中石化，他们基本上都给了天然气的年度合同，也想请教一下公司在2025年的天然气年度合同方面有没有一些指引？谢谢。
From Tianfeng Securities, Zhang kiki. I have two questions. First is regarding the deep water or deep ocean technologies. We all noticed the discovery of the natural gas because of that, with the company update or overperform the previous three-year target in both CapEx and the production target. The second question is that the Sinopec and the PetroChina has all disclosed their yearly contract. Would Sino also let us know the yearly contract?
[Foreign language] 谢谢这位记者的提问。我来回答第一个问题。应该说刚才我们董长已经对就深海科技这一块的事情已经做了一个非常全面准确的一个回答。就您刚才说的我们海油的深海的油气的发展来看，应该说这个本身也是我们海油今后发展在南海发展的一个特别重要的领域。所以我们这一块要持续地要进一步地加大我们的勘探开发力度，同时做好我们的成本管控和安全生产方面的管控。应该说深海还是有非常大的不确定性的，难度也是非常大。这要发挥我们更好的科技创新，在平稳可靠的情况下，按照我们设定的基本收益率来进行我们的项目的决策。所以这个我们是慎重的。所以从这个角度来说，我们三年指引提出来的资本开支的范围，我们认为应该是保持一个比较稳定的状态。所以从深海开发的角度来说，所以不会有大起大落的这种可能性应该是不大的。同时应该说我们深海不单是天然气，还有我们按照盆地类型的不同，我们还是有原油的相关的一些开发项目的。也希望你多关注我们的信息发布，我们会实时地把相关的信息向外披露。天然气应该说，刚才说了，我们要努力地提高我们的天然气的占比。深水应该是我们天然气蒸储上场非常重要的一个领域。所以我们努力地也要把这一块的天然气的经济有效的开发，逐渐地提高我们天然气的占比和产量。我就回答这么多。 好，关于天然气销售合同的问题，我来做一回答。首先就是中海油在国内的天然气的中海油有限公司的在国内天然气的业务模式和其他的公司可能会略有不同。中海油有限公司在国内，我们只负责勘探开发、生产和销售我们在国内自己生产的天然气，不参与国际贸易，也不参与RNG的进口业务。就我们自己生产的这些天然气，我们有相对稳定、基本固定的销售的模式和销售的下家，这个企业有比较稳定的。我们每一个项目在项目制定之初就会签订比较长期的用气的伙伴，就销售到这个伙伴下游的用气的单位。我们的价格模式也是基本上与国际相应的模式接近，但又有我们一定特色的这种模式。我们的价格是相对比较稳定的。同时我也给大家一个信息，从去年我们全国整地的天然气的形势来讲，我们全国的消费量是 4,200 亿，中国国内的生产量是 2,400 多亿，不到 2,500 亿。每年有 1,000 吨，将近 2,000 亿的天然气的进口。总体来讲，中国国内的天然气自己的生产是供不应求的。所以我们自己的国内的天然气在生产方面，我们有巨大的市场空间。所以在天然气的发展方面，我们有很大的潜力和很好的市场前景。谢谢。
Thanks for your question. Regarding the deep ocean technology, I think this question has been answered previously by our chairman with a very accurate comprehensive description on what we have done.
I want to emphasize that in the South China Sea, CNOOC has attached great importance on the development of both oil and natural gas. Therefore, we will make the effort in improving the efficiency, reducing the cost, and ensuring the safety. I think the deep water exploration cannot be that easy. It is very challenging, and we are facing a lot of uncertainty, which is true. Therefore, we need to develop our technology to overcome those difficulties. So far, I think the performance of the deep water has been rather stable and normal. I think whether we will outperform the target or how much we will deliver the target is quite dependent on the condition of stable operation and the stable ROE. If you think from this perspective, I do not think we will have big or huge ups or downs in this regard.
We will rather deliver stably and deliver the target for our three-year development. Now, let's shift the gear to the deep water natural gas. By different basin type, probably we also need to produce or develop the crude oil as well. For this, we will update the market on the relevant development or the information when it's appropriate. I encourage you to check our disclosure from time to time. Of course, by doing so, we will increase the percentage of the natural gas, and the deep water technology will for sure help us to do the increasement of both the reserve and the production. Eventually, the target is to ensure the smooth operation, enhance the percentage of the natural gas, and ensure or improve the efficiency. The second question is regarding the contracts of the natural gas sales of the Sinopec.
I want to emphasize that our business model for natural gas compared with other players in this industry in China is a bit different. We focus on the exploration production only, and we do not involve in international trading or LNG importation. We have determined our client base at the rather early stage of our project. When we are doing the project at the early stage, basically, the client is already determined, and we sign the rather long-term contract with them. Therefore, the pricing model and the business model of our natural gas business is rather similar with the international ones, but we have our own features. This kind of combination gives us a very stable foundation of our price.
The year before last, I mean, last year, I'm not sure if you know the information that the total consumption amount of the natural gas in China was 420 billion, and the supply domestically was over 240. That basically means there were 1,000 billion tons of the gap or the deficiency. The supply, the demand in China is oversupplied. We do not have much problem on selling our natural gas, and we have lots of the market potential that is untapped.
[Foreign language] 好的，谢谢。我们以上的第一条问题的回答是来自于公司副董事长、首席执行官周清淮先生。第二条问题的回答是来自于公司总裁严宏涛先生。我们由于时间的关系，欢迎最后一条提问。第二排这位先生。 你好，请教一下。我是明白的。请教一下关于，因为刚才都看过你们的简述，就是关于铜油的成本都有一点点的下降。但是最近看下来，就是油价可能它的这个水平可能有一点点压力了。会不会长远来说对你们的毛利率有一定的影响？在这方面你们会有什么的看法，有什么措施可以应对？还有请教一下，就是你们在这个炉子的能源，在光伏等等都投入都挺多的。将来会不会独立出来，就是一个新的板块可以做一个描述，就是将来这个业务是一个怎么样的形态，它的也就可以独立，可以看得到这样子。还有在资本新开支，在这方面的占比会不会都有一个比较清晰的说法？第三就是关于石油，就是刚才我们路透的同行都说过，就是Chenna Watts，他是加拿大的一方的合作。将来在跟其他的美方、加拿大方面的拍板，不同的伙伴，随着最近中美之间的可能的摩擦，都可能还有持续一段时间，是不是要再进一步的检视、review这样子？就是这么多。
[Foreign language] Ms. Minghao, from your previous presentation, we found the cost per barrel oil has been reduced, but recently there was some pressure for the cost of the oil. Would that impact your future gross margin, and what kind of measure you will do to offset this kind of impact? My second question is related to the green energy, including PV.
You've done lots of the investment in those regards. What is the business going on there? Would you consider spinning off this business as an independent business sector in the future, and what is the profitability situation of that part of the business? The third question ties back to a previous question by Reuters on the SinoVerse and your cooperation, and that is related to the Canadian trading partner. With the ongoing tension between China and the United States, are you going to review your existing connections and trading cooperations?
[Foreign language] 这个第一个问题就是你也关注到最近国际油价相比较年初就是有所回落。那么当然油价刚才林国祥都懂，也做了解释，比较复杂，预测也不确定因素太多。那么对于公司来说，我们自身还是坚持以一定的确定性来应对油价的不确定性。我们也回顾了过去十年中国海油在近两轮的大的油价波动过程中我们的发展的质量。刚才王永帆女士也在报告了，实际上我们的成本的降低将近与十年前相比将近40%。就是在同样的油价下，我们的经营的利润可以说实现了翻番。这一块我们还是要坚持，从公司自身来说坚持高质量发展，追求有效益的产量增长，保持我们成本的竞争优势，持续为股东创造价值。从措施上来说，我们还是这些年我们的降本增效采取了一系列的措施。从2024年的经营业绩上也是得到了体现，因为24年的油价比23年又有了大幅的降低，但是我们的经营利润还是增长了11%以上。第二个问题就是关于新能源的业务，目前我们在新能源的发展上，结合海油的实际，主要的还是考虑就是怎么发挥我们的比较优势，就是在海上的风电，包括深远海的风电的发展，这是我们的新能源主要的领域。那么再一个就是我们海底的CCUS，就是二氧化碳的捕捉、封存和利用，这个作为我们的两个的主要方向。当然还有其他方面，包括陆上的光伏、分布式能源，一些基地的新能源的替代、电力替代等等。那么现阶段我们主要的还是以获取海上风光资源为主，当然对于一些技术，另外我们在技术上，刚才讲的我们漂浮式风电的海上风电示范项目的应用，目前还处于这个阶段，还没有到大规模的投入阶段。不管是我们的游戏主义还是我们的新能源业务的发展，公司始终还是坚持价值创造这么一个基本原则，必须要达到我们对应的基本的收益率以后才能够产生的确实投资。目前这一块还没有进入大规模投资阶段。另外就是说，那么在这个阶段，目前它还不足以成为中国海油的一个业务板块，当然未来随着新能源业务的发展，也不排除它会成为一个板块，也有可能它和我们的油气开放进行融合的发展。看未来的发展走势，我们在管理层和董事会再来研究决定。那么第三个问题请徐玉高先生来回答。 先问一个问题，就是大家这么关心地缘政治的问题，充分说明就是近一段时间或者近几年来，地缘政治风险已经成为任何一家全球化的企业必须面对的一个重大的挑战之一。这个我想和应该说是十年前可能有很大的不同。在十年前的话，我估计很多公司不会考虑地缘政治风险，或者是地缘政治风险在整个商业决策当中，就是它的因素没有那么的重要。实际上地缘政治风险我想对于商业来说，它仅仅是作为选择项目或者是选择一个 trading partner，就是你的合作伙伴的一个国家风险的一个因素，它不是完全的因素。对国家风险来说，我想我们还要考虑比如说国家的法律的环境，还要考虑比如说国家的汇率的风险，还有一些国家信用等等这样的风险。所以我觉得虽然地缘政治是一个非常就平拌国家风险非常重要的一个因素，但是不是绝对的因素。那么第二个就是说实际上我们在选择合作伙伴的时候，我想还有很重要的就是我们还要考虑合作伙伴的一些理念，还有它的一些信用风险等等，我们在全球的其他业务上有没有协同。我觉得不是一个单一的维度，不是单一的维度。所以具体到像美国的资产，加拿大的资产等等我们来讲，我们没有刚才董事长也介绍了，就是对美国未来的我们陆地的资源，我们近期还没有提到一直往来。实际上对公司来讲，我们是有商务的团队，我们的 Business Development 这个 team 每年实际上对我们全球的我们的 asset portfolio 都会做一个评估。那么这个评估实际上就是说我们会看一看它的这块资产，它的未来的回报潜力等等，包括刚才讲过，包括国家风险，包括其他的风险，那么是不是未来会对我们整个的公司，整个的 portfolio 它是有竞争力的。那么这个调整是一个动态调整，它不是针对某一个国家或具体的特定的一个国家一定要减或什么之类的，这个我想是一个综合性的评判。所以说对加拿大也好，还是对美国的资产来说也好，我们实际上是根据我们公司的战略和每年的动态的 review 来做一个商业的决策。所以没有特定的想法，一定要在什么时候或者是减持什么样资产，或者是选择哪个合作伙伴，就像我们就特别对哪一个国家的合作伙伴特定的不选择，我想不是一个那么简单的一个商业的抉择，不是那么简单。好，谢谢你的问题。
The oil price, yes, as you know, compared with earlier of this year, it has been dropped a bit, and there are rather complicated reasons behind and has been explained previously. That is why for prediction of the future price, it is not that easy. We have a strong foundation that it is to use our strong commitment for the company's development to offset a lot of the uncertainties in the oil market. As you might find that in the past 10 years, our company went through a lot of cycles, a lot of the fluctuations, which has been demonstrated in the presentation by Ms. Wang earlier. Under this kind of the situation, we went through it. We improved the quality, efficiency, reduced the cost by 40%. That means even we keep the same price like 10 years ago, the profit we make had doubled. Why could we do that? Because we are committed for high quality, higher efficiency, cost as our competitive edge, and keep generating values for the shareholders.
Speaking about what measures we will adapt to mitigate this kind of the impacts, yes, the price in 2024, if you know, was further reduced compared with 2023, but our profit has been enhanced by 11%, which is mainly because of our innovation. Speaking about the future, we will for sure focus on the high quality development. Speaking about the new energy, that is the second question you raised up, we will focus on developing the optimal resources and where we have the competitive edge, mainly the wind power, onshore wind power farm or the deep water wind power, including the seabed CCUS, which means carbon dioxide capture and utility. We made the innovation in this regard, and also we will do the unlined PV and the replacement of the existing energy or the distributed energy.
There are lots of options, but we will focus on the competitive edge first. That basically means the PV and wind power generation. Speaking about the future, yes, we will continue to create more values, and only by doing so we can ensure that we will be able to deliver the ROE target that we set. Whether it will be an independent business segment, I mean the new energy will be an independent segment of our company. I think now, of course, not. Whether it will be possible, yes, probably. In the future, probably it will be integrated with our major business, the oil and gas, but we are not yet decided, and it is not the timing. Now I shift the last question on the geopolitics answered by Mr. Xu.
Geopolitics has never been asked so many times than ever before, and the richest demonstrating the strong concern of this kind of the risk in recent years. Of course, it is rather new for the recent 10 years, but most of the company consider geopolitics as a challenge now, and it is one element of their consideration. Whether we will consider the geopolitics specific to one single country, I don't think so. There is the country-related risk, and geopolitics is just one risk associated under the country risk. Among that, we still have the credit risk, the exchange risk, and the legal environment risk. We won't eliminate any trading partners simply by the geopolitics risks. In the meantime, when we are considering the trading partners, we will also consider their idea of development, their credit conditions, whether they can create the synergy effects with our company.
Get back to the specific connections with the United States and Canada. As I mentioned, as my colleague mentioned earlier, the sales of any inland or onshore asset in the States are not yet a part of our agenda. In our company internally, we have a business development team. They do the assessment on the geopolitics and any other country risk annually. Among that, they will review the potential associated risks. All of that is to ensure the strong competitive edge for our company in the specific country. In the portfolio assessment, it is rather dynamic. We will not simply eliminate one country by geopolitic reason alone. It is a rather comprehensive assessment. Whether we will continue to work with the partners in Canada or United States, it is still a dynamic decision based on our review.
We won't simply stop working with them because they are located in a certain country and/or because by what timing we can't or we simply not blacklist any country. We will do a comprehensive dynamic review.