PetroChina dividend
PetroChina declared an interim dividend of RMB0.26 per share in 2026, while its annual dividend required roughly RMB86 billion in 2025. The stricter free-cash-flow measure covered that annual dividend with only a modest cushion.
How much does PetroChina pay in dividends?
Cash returns continued in 2026, when the board declared an interim dividend of RMB0.26 per share. PipeChina also paid PetroChina RMB5,628 million in dividends in 2025. Those are concrete results, while discoveries such as the Shenditake-1 well still need commercially viable development before they can repay exploration spending.
Base dividends are RMB0.52, RMB0.54 and RMB0.56 per share. The bear path falls from RMB0.42 to RMB0.24, while the bull path rises from RMB0.57 to RMB0.69. The base begins with the estimated RMB0.53 2026 full-year dividend and reflects the stated 45% payout practice; the alternatives reflect weaker or stronger earnings.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| − Paid to minority owners, per share | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.09 |
| − Dividends paid, per share | 0.47 | 0.45 | 0.43 | 0.30 | 0.22 |
| = FCF not paid out, per share | 0.33 | 0.33 |
Is PetroChina’s dividend covered by its cash?
The next question is how much cash remained after investment. PetroChina’s reconciliation shows a business distributing nearly all of its free cash flow to shareholders and minority owners, who hold parts of consolidated subsidiaries. Dividends can exceed one period’s free cash flow because the company can also use existing cash, asset-sale proceeds, investment income or borrowing. That does not make the payments unaffordable, but it leaves less internally generated cash for new projects.
Cash improved from 2024 because operating cash rose while capital spending fell. It still remained below 2023. The annual dividend required roughly RMB86 billion, so the stricter cash measure covered it with only a modest cushion. The key unanswered question is how much investment maintains existing production and how much creates growth.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 95,057 | 79,605 | 148,908 | 124,869 | 53,970 |
| − Dividends paid | 86,020 | 82,360 | 78,982 | 54,686 | 39,866 |
| − Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 60,841 | 60,636 | |||
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 90.5% | 103.5% | 53.0% | 43.8% | 73.9% |
What could change PetroChina’s dividend?
| October 2027 | October 2028 | October 2029 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividends per share | 0.52 (0.42 / 0.57) | 0.54 (0.32 / 0.63) | 0.56 (0.24 / 0.69) |
| Net debt | -89,115 (-51,817 / -102,764) | -130,317 (-43,480 / -156,691) | -171,655 (-34,585 / -209,836) |
What is PetroChina’s dividend yield today?
Free cash flow is what remains after the chosen capital-spending deduction. PetroChina generated RMB412.51 billion of operating cash flow in 2025, but reported free cash flow of RMB120.19 billion. Its 5.6% dividend yield therefore absorbs roughly 90% of the calculated 6.2% free-cash-flow yield. The starting valuation is attractive only if that cash remains after adequate field investment.