JP Morgan: Maintains "overweight" rating on PETROCHINA (00857) with a target price of HKD 9.

JPMorgan Chase released a research report stating that although the outlook for the oil industry in the second half of this year and next year is cautious, considering that PETROCHINA (00857) is less affected by oil price fluctuations, they prefer PetroChina relatively and continue to predict that the company's net profit in 2024 will hit a record high. If Russia's energy discounts or local currency depreciates significantly, JPMorgan expects PetroChina to achieve good results this year and will raise its earnings forecast per share for this year and next year by 1% and 2% to reflect the increase in production in the Iraq West Qurna-1 oil field. They maintain their "overweight" rating with a target price of 9 Hong Kong dollars. The bank stated that the US Treasury announced last December sanctions against 35 entities related to Iranian crude oil sales, and industry data showed that the total exports of Iranian crude oil and refined oil decreased by 1.2 million barrels in January 2025, causing an increase in oil prices. In addition, the US recently announced new sanctions against Russia, and the oil service ban will take effect on the 27th of next month. JPMorgan believes that these events will lead to higher oil price volatility in the next two months. If oil price limits and shipping restrictions are strictly enforced from February to March, the upstream industry in China will benefit from the widening gap between Russian and international prices. It is estimated that every barrel of Russian oil discount increases by $2, which will bring about a positive impact of about 1% to PetroChina's net profit.