# PetroChina Trading Arm Forecast to Top $3 Billion in Gross Trading Profit By John Kim Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/33592 Published: 2026-10-17T00:13:55.000Z Updated: 2026-10-17T00:13:55.000Z Section: Business > Shifts in Gulf oil shipments and tighter fuel markets are supporting cargo trading and overseas refinery margins. PetroChina’s first-half results cover the wider company. PetroChina International is forecast to generate more than 20 billion yuan, or about $3 billion, in gross trading profit during 2026, which would mark a unit record. The estimate covers the trading arm’s full calendar year and is not a result disclosed in PetroChina’s interim financial statements. The forecast reflects shifts in oil movements and fuel markets tied to the Iran war. Middle Eastern producers outside Iran sold discounted oil cargoes as freight costs rose, while traders shifted shipments between markets. Tighter fuel markets supported margins at PetroChina’s overseas refineries. The unit’s fuel-products and natural-gas divisions were also performing strongly. Exporters led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company used shuttle fleets to move oil across the Strait of Hormuz and sell cargoes through spot tenders. Before the war, buyers arranged shipments under annual supply agreements. The route changes came amid [tanker shortages and a shipping bottleneck](). By early October, PCI’s crude division had earned more than twice what it made in all of 2025. Crude typically accounts for more than half of the unit’s profits, making the division’s performance a major part of its trading results. PetroChina’s first-half profit attributable to owners reached 103.936 billion yuan, 22% above the 85.185 billion yuan posted in the first half of 2025. The figure covers the wider company, rather than PCI alone. PetroChina’s Marketing segment recorded 11.363 billion yuan in operating profit, an increase of 3.801 billion yuan from a year earlier. Higher international-trading margins and growth in vehicle LNG refueling, charging and battery-swapping businesses contributed to the segment’s result. PetroChina’s interim results do not provide a separate full-year trading-profit figure for PCI. The figures differ in scope, measure and period: the estimate covers the trading arm’s gross trading profit for all of 2026, while the reported figures cover companywide earnings for the first half. The Marketing segment’s operating profit is also a separate measure from PCI’s projected gross trading profit. ## Links in this article - [tanker shortages and a shipping bottleneck](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/27472)