Daily Archives: March 26, 2020

With all eyes on the COVID-19 pandemic and how its impact will be felt over the coming weeks and months, people are being bombarded with all kinds of noise and speculation.

Between a deadly virus, looming economic effects, and numerous government shutdowns, its clear that a fertile breeding ground has been created for misinformation, rumors, conspiracy theories, hot takes, and other potentially misleading content.

At Visual Capitalist, its our goal to use data-driven visuals to explain the world around us.

In the last week alone, weve had more than 10 million people visit our site many of them trying to understand more about COVID-19 and its effects on the economy and society.

With that in mind, we thought wed curate a list of quality information on the virus and its impact. These COVID-19 resources are all from fact-driven, reliable sources, with some of them even being created by our in-house team and shared to our free daily mailing list.

On the below list, we start with the more contextual resources (understanding how the virus works, pandemic history, etc.) and then progress to real-time dashboards and up-to-date data.

Click any image below to see the full resource or dashboard. Many are updated daily or in real-time.

What is a coronavirus, and how does COVID-19 fit into the mix?

This educational scrolling infographic by SCMP walks you through some of the more familiar types of coronaviruses, how they spread, and how they affect the human body.

It also relates COVID-19 to other coronaviruses that cause diseases such as Mers, Sars, and even the common cold.

On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

In this infographic, we look at the data to show you the history of pandemics all the way from the Black Death to how the current COVID-19 situation. It helps give the historical context on how bad a pandemic can be. Its also updated every day so you can see how COVID-19 compares to the impact of these previous events.

Why does the virus spread at an exponential rate, and what techniques can be used to mitigate that spread?

This fantastic interactive page by the Washington Post actively simulates what happens when the virus spreads normally, contrasting it to how it may spread in a forced quarantine environment or when social distancing is practiced.

If you havent seen this useful real-time dashboard by Johns Hopkins University yet, its worth bookmarking right now.

We check the resource every day, and it has the latest numbers for COVID-19 cases, deaths, recoveries, and more and its all sorted by country and/or state and province. Importantly, it also updates in real-time, so you always know you are getting the latest numbers.

Our post on which countries are flattening the curve has had over a million views in the last week alone, and it features the above interactive graph from Our World in Data.

Go to the post itself to see a bigger version of the logarithmic chart, which plots the progress of different countries in flattening the curves of COVID-19 infections. The interactive chart updates daily based on the latest numbers, and you can actually search for any country by using the Search button. Using the filters on the right side, you can also sort by region as well.

Even though the Financial Times is a subscription-based website, it recently published this useful COVID-19 dashboard and made it accessible to everyone.

It features various charts and tables on the countries affected, as well as ongoing assessments on the economic damage caused by the virus. Like many of the other COVID-19 resources featured on this list, it is updated on a daily basis.

The above graphic is one of many available on Our World in Data, a fantastic initiative led by economist Max Roser.

Their coronavirus research page has tons of stats, citations, and data for those that want to dive deeper into the situation. Its also updated very regularly.

While this is less data-driven than the other pieces of content, this animated video by Kurzgesagt still provides a handy explainer on how the virus works.

Its about eight minutes long, and might help you fill other knowledge gaps.

At a time when misinformation can be dangerous and even deadly, it is worth spreading the above COVID-19 resources to your friends, family, and colleagues.

Many of the above resources are updated daily or they contain evergreen information, meaning they are not going to go out of date any time soon.

Wishing you a safe next few months, The Visual Capitalist team

PS: If you have any other great resources to share, please post them in the comments!

Thank you!

Given email address is already subscribed, thank you!

Please provide a valid email address.

Please complete the CAPTCHA.

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The rest is here:

The 7 Best COVID-19 Resources We've Discovered So Far - Visual Capitalist

With all eyes on the COVID-19 pandemic and how its impact will be felt over the coming weeks and months, people are being bombarded with all kinds of noise and speculation.

Between a deadly virus, looming economic effects, and numerous government shutdowns, its clear that a fertile breeding ground has been created for misinformation, rumors, conspiracy theories, hot takes, and other potentially misleading content.

At Visual Capitalist, its our goal to use data-driven visuals to explain the world around us.

In the last week alone, weve had more than 10 million people visit our site many of them trying to understand more about COVID-19 and its effects on the economy and society.

With that in mind, we thought wed curate a list of quality information on the virus and its impact. These COVID-19 resources are all from fact-driven, reliable sources, with some of them even being created by our in-house team and shared to our free daily mailing list.

On the below list, we start with the more contextual resources (understanding how the virus works, pandemic history, etc.) and then progress to real-time dashboards and up-to-date data.

Click any image below to see the full resource or dashboard. Many are updated daily or in real-time.

What is a coronavirus, and how does COVID-19 fit into the mix?

This educational scrolling infographic by SCMP walks you through some of the more familiar types of coronaviruses, how they spread, and how they affect the human body.

It also relates COVID-19 to other coronaviruses that cause diseases such as Mers, Sars, and even the common cold.

On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

In this infographic, we look at the data to show you the history of pandemics all the way from the Black Death to how the current COVID-19 situation. It helps give the historical context on how bad a pandemic can be. Its also updated every day so you can see how COVID-19 compares to the impact of these previous events.

Why does the virus spread at an exponential rate, and what techniques can be used to mitigate that spread?

This fantastic interactive page by the Washington Post actively simulates what happens when the virus spreads normally, contrasting it to how it may spread in a forced quarantine environment or when social distancing is practiced.

If you havent seen this useful real-time dashboard by Johns Hopkins University yet, its worth bookmarking right now.

We check the resource every day, and it has the latest numbers for COVID-19 cases, deaths, recoveries, and more and its all sorted by country and/or state and province. Importantly, it also updates in real-time, so you always know you are getting the latest numbers.

Our post on which countries are flattening the curve has had over a million views in the last week alone, and it features the above interactive graph from Our World in Data.

Go to the post itself to see a bigger version of the logarithmic chart, which plots the progress of different countries in flattening the curves of COVID-19 infections. The interactive chart updates daily based on the latest numbers, and you can actually search for any country by using the Search button. Using the filters on the right side, you can also sort by region as well.

Even though the Financial Times is a subscription-based website, it recently published this useful COVID-19 dashboard and made it accessible to everyone.

It features various charts and tables on the countries affected, as well as ongoing assessments on the economic damage caused by the virus. Like many of the other COVID-19 resources featured on this list, it is updated on a daily basis.

The above graphic is one of many available on Our World in Data, a fantastic initiative led by economist Max Roser.

Their coronavirus research page has tons of stats, citations, and data for those that want to dive deeper into the situation. Its also updated very regularly.

While this is less data-driven than the other pieces of content, this animated video by Kurzgesagt still provides a handy explainer on how the virus works.

Its about eight minutes long, and might help you fill other knowledge gaps.

At a time when misinformation can be dangerous and even deadly, it is worth spreading the above COVID-19 resources to your friends, family, and colleagues.

Many of the above resources are updated daily or they contain evergreen information, meaning they are not going to go out of date any time soon.

Wishing you a safe next few months, The Visual Capitalist team

PS: If you have any other great resources to share, please post them in the comments!

Thank you!

Given email address is already subscribed, thank you!

Please provide a valid email address.

Please complete the CAPTCHA.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Continued here:

Hardest Hit Companies of the COVID-19 Downturn: The 'BEACH' Stocks - Visual Capitalist

BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- March 25, 2020 On behalf of electronics manufacturers in the United States and around the world, IPC thanks the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration for reaching agreement today on a $2 trillion economic stabilization package to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal government is taking unprecedented measures to help the U.S. economy weather and recover from the current global crisis, said IPC President and CEO John Mitchell. The $2 trillion stimulus bill will extend rapid financial relief to the businesses and individuals that need it most.

The White House and bipartisan leaders in Congress have agreed on legislation that includes the following provisions of interest to the electronics manufacturing industry:

As a next step, IPC is urging federal officials to take additional actions to support the electronics manufacturing sector and drive the nations economic recovery. Specifically, IPC urges U.S. Government officials to adopt measures in IPCs Roadmap to Economic Recovery, including:

Electronics manufacturing is as critical to the economy as the nervous system is to the body, said Mitchell. Although our industrys numbers will be depressed in 2020 and 2021, just like everyone elses, we believe electronics will be at the center of the recovery, because were at the center of the economy.

Electronics manufacturing supports more than 5.3 million U.S. jobs and drives more than $714 billion in U.S. GDP. Every single U.S. electronics manufacturing job supports three other jobs in the U.S. national economy, a strong multiplier effect.

For additional information, visit IPCs COVID-19 (coronavirus) resource page at http://www.ipc.org/coronavirus.

# # #

About IPC

IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 5,800 member-company sites which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Miami, Fla.; Brussels, Belgium; Bangalore and New Delhi, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing, China.

View original post here:

IPC Welcomes US Economic Stabilization Package, Proposes Agenda for Economic Recovery and Resiliency in Electronics Manufacturing - GlobeNewswire

HRDC CEO talks knowledge meet the boss

Having been appointed as the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) CEO last June, Dr. Raphael Dingalo feels his organisation is perfectly placed to lead Botswanas economy away from resource-based to the promised land of knowledge-based.

Speaking to Voice Moneys KABELO ADAMSON, Dr. Dingalo, an academic of note, outlines exactly what needs to be done to achieve this transformation.

Q. What exactly does your role entail?

As the CEO, I lead the development and monitoring of the implementation of HRDCs strategic and operational plans and report periodically on progress and performance to the Board.

I also ensure that there are appropriate processes, systems, controls and operating mechanisms in place to promote effective and efficient delivery of internal and external services.

I also ensure close and smooth inter-department collaboration and teamwork.

Kindly share HRDCs mandate with us.

HRDC plays a critical role in championing His Excellency the Presidents transformation agenda which entails moving the country from mid to high-income status as anchored on the transformation from a resource to a knowledge-based economy.

Specifically, we are driven by the following objectives that make up the mandate of HRDC: We provide for policy advice on all matters of National Human Resource Development (NHRD); we co-ordinate and promote the implementation of the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS); we formulate human resource development plans for key sectors of the economy through linkages with employers, including as well formulating the National Human Resource Development Council.

Lastly we plan and advise on Tertiary Education Financing and Work Place Learning.

Q. When you were appointed HRDC CEO, what were your priority areas?

My first priority was to enthuse staff to play a significant role in ensuring HRDC delivers on its mandate.

On every occasion I have to address staff members I make it known that I, as the CEO, do not lay claim to a monopoly of intellect and for this reason I am open to intellectually stimulating debate on how we can make HRDC a leading organisation, and an organisation worth identifying with.

I have opened my doors to all staff members to engage with myself and my team on whatever issue they believe can move our organisation forward.

I have also prioritised the use of ICT for improved service delivery.

In pursuit of utilising ICT for improved service delivery, I have developed the ICT Strategy and some of the projects under the strategy entail the Development of a Labour Market Information System, which monitors labour market patterns and trends affording us a system to stem out mismatch in Institutions output and the demand for labour.

I am also pursuing the development of an e-HRDF system, whereas levy payers will be applying for their reimbursement claims electronically thus improving on turnaround times for claims.

We are currently using Microsoft Project to monitor our projects and Executive Strategy Manager (ESM) by Palladium to monitor organisational performance.

Our Board meetings are paperless and in the next five-year Strategic Plan, I am planning on a paperless HRDC.

Q. How is HRDC positioning itself to contribute towards Botswanas shift to a knowledge-based economy?

As HRDC, we have bought into the World Bank definition of a knowledge-based economy, being one that utilises knowledge to develop and sustain long-term economic growth, and the four pillars that make up such, being: Policies favourable to market transactions, open to free trade and foreign direct investment; Research centres, universities, think tanks, that create new knowledge; Communication, dissemination, and processing of information and technology; and Education, especially in the scientific and engineering fields.

HRDC has developed the National Human Resource Development Plan.

The Plan talks to Relevant Education and Skills for Employability and Entrepreneurship, including partnerships between ETPs and employers in the development and review of programmes; reskilling and retooling the current labour force as well as the provision of lifelong learning for the employed, and Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme to nurture talent and potential at all levels of education and skills development system, including the workplace amongst others.

Q. Looking at the current developments, would you say the country is on the right track to becoming knowledge-based?

I believe the country is on track.

We need to understand that transformation does not happen overnight.

It is a planned activity and the development of the NHRDP and the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan shows that we are on track.

But of course, the devil is in the implementation.

Q. What more can be done to fast track this transformation?

What the country needs is radical economic transformation and pushing for Public-Private Partnerships.

We have massive land and land is an asset.

For example, Government can reduce its spending on BIUST by partnering or selling off BIUST to a reputable international university.

This will spare Government the huge sums from both development and recurrent that goes to BIUST for other critical interventions, mainly infrastructural development.

Government must pursue Privatisation with zeal and zest, including Air Transportation System, Civil Aviation etc.

Governments contribution should only be as far as leasing land to Airport developers. We should, therefore, be ready to open our borders and appreciate the foreign-born but at the same time ensuring that we target real foreign-born investors.

Q. Which sectors of the economy do you feel should be of top priority in achieving a knowledge-based econoy?

Transportation, mainly Air Transportation as an enabling sector, and the need to have an iconic international airport.

There is no high-income country that does not have an international airport as Aviation supports many other sectors.

Alexandre de Juniac CEO of IATA contends that Aviation Industry is growing at a rapid rate, in years to come they are going to have challenges to do with infrastructure, i.e. airports, hence the country should tap into this opportunity.

ICT, of course, is critical as there is a need to leverage on and prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution.

We should, therefore, ensure targeted FDI, including luring big ICT companies to set up shop in Botswana.

Manufacturing is also critical and the need to develop our leather industry through designing quality leather products, which can be exported.

Furthermore, there is also a need to capitalise on our diamond industry by maximising on the diamond value chain, which should also drive our manufacturing.

Creative and Performing Arts is one sector that can create jobs for many creative Batswana especially the youth.

All these are premised on a robust education and training sector.

Read the original post:

The brainy boss - The Voice Online

Key Points

Introduction

Phytophthora cinnamomi, commonly known as Phytophthora dieback or just dieback, poses a significant threat to the Australian environment. This introduced plant pathogen spreads easily, causing disease, death and potential extinction in susceptible plants; also loss of habitat for native animals. The disease is often difficult to detect and can cause permanent damage to ecosystems and landscapes before it is identified. It can also remain dormant for long periods during dry weather. In most situations, it is impossible to eradicate from infested areas, so it is critical to prevent further spread. The disease is currently threatening large parts of Western Australias South-West native forests. It poses a major threat to over 40 per cent of the native flora in Western Australia, particularly in the South-West regional area.

Justin Bellanger, from the South Coast Natural Resource Management (NRM) agency recently spoke to FDI, outlining the extent of the disease, its impacts and the work his organisation is doing in dealing with the problem.

Figure 1. Dieback-affected banksia scrubland in the South-West of Western Australia. Source: South Coast Natural Resource Management Inc.

Interview

FDI: What is dieback and what environmental and other impacts will it cause in Western Australias South-West?

Justin Bellanger: Dieback is a plant disease that occurs in soil. It now infects a major proportion of native plant species growing across our South-West landscape. To put that into context, the South-West of WA is a biodiversity hotspot; the area contains one of the greatest ranges of plant varieties of anywhere in the world. That has come about due to the extremely old soils in the area, where plants have had to evolve to be able to survive in uniquely harsh conditions. The result, that has evolved over millennia, is the amazing floral diversity of the South-West.

Returning to your question, dieback is a soil-borne water mould that clumps around the roots of plants and trees and then essentially starves them of nutrients and water. It arrived with the early European settlers, on the roots of cinnamon plants, hence its scientific name, Phytophthora cinnamomi.

The unique flora of the South-West has, in turn, led to the evolution of equally unique animal species dependent on that flora. For instance, the Honey Possum, which lives exclusively on nectar, is unique in the world. It needs a year-round supply of flowering plants to be able to survive and breed. There are also other ecosystems in the region that are inter-twined and highly reliant on our diverse and complex plant species. These need to be protected, which means that managing dieback is critical in WA.

Introduced agricultural crops are also susceptible to dieback. For instance, avocados, most citrus species and nuts, such as almonds and macadamias, can all be infected. This necessitates, from an agricultural productivity perspective, an effective dieback management regime in cultivated lands.

Figure 2. The Honey Possum is unique of South-West Western Australian and completely dependent on native flowering plants Source: https://www.wanaturalists.org.au/reports/

FDI: How has this situation developed?

Justin Bellanger: The current situation is the result of the Phytophthora spores being allowed to spread in the local environment for many years. The spores have, predominantly, been spread by human activity, there being two main vector pathways. The first is humans moving infected soils around; whether by vehicles or pedestrian traffic. The second pathway is by natural movement, from water eroding infected soils during rain events. Examples of events causing the movement of dieback spores include: roadworks carried out in infected areas; utilities doing work such as erecting power poles and wires; operations to construct drainage; and recreational activities such as: off-road driving; trail and mountain bike riding; bushwalking; and horse riding on trails.

In essence, dieback is a human management issue. The two key elements to its effective management are: firstly, identifying where it is in the landscape; and secondly, communicating broadly to the community how to avoid spreading the disease. These are critical components of the management strategies that have been designed to deal with it.

FDI: What are you doing about it and are you meeting with success?

Justin Bellanger: We communicate broadly to raise community and public awareness of dieback and its impacts. Much of the work that we do at South Coast NRM, is to make people aware that we have the disease in our environment. We also inform the community of our excellent strategies and management techniques, which both contain the disease and protect areas that are not infected. An important part of our job is to make those messages broadly understood in the community.

An important part of the message is the recognition that the problem is manageable; we need to avoid both complacency or any inclination to see the problem as too difficult. The work we have been doing in managing the dieback disease has been presented to an international audience; the response has been recognition that our practices are of a world-class standard.

We have a State Phytophthora Dieback Management and Investment Framework, which, I understand, is one of a very few whole of landscape scale management plans. The framework provides a logical process and an operational toolkit, to develop area-specific management actions. These actions, designed to prevent the further large-scale spread of dieback, would include: on-ground activity, planning, engagement, communication and structured training. This facilitates a standardised approach for targeted management and investment across all levels of land tenure, enabling collaboration between key stakeholders and providing optimum return for the preservation of the States unique biodiversity assets. I have not found any comparable plans in the agricultural or environmental sectors. Our plan covers all areas where the disease has been located in Western Australia. It contains the top 100 areas where we need to commit resources and apply our efforts, to maximise the return on our investments in managing the disease. We have also identified another 1,500 sites that need protecting, but from a priority perspective the top 100 are the sites that we are working on first. These strategies demonstrate best practice.

As previously stated, under-pinning the communication strategy is a range of on-ground actions. These include: green-bridging, which is capping over the soils in disease-infested roads; erecting appropriate and easy to understand signage; installing boot cleaning stations; and improving training courses. Altogether, we have a package that incorporates planning, on-ground actions and then communication strategies, to get the important messages through to all stakeholders. In a holistic sense, while we recognise that we do have the dieback disease, we also have the solutions needed to effectively manage the problem.

FDI: What further steps need to be taken in the future?

Justin Bellanger: As I have stated, one of the key elements in managing biosecurity is information. You need to know where the threat is and what the assets are that you need to protect. At the South Coast NRM, we do a lot of work on continuing to survey for diseases issues and then working out how we can effectively contain the infected areas.

In the future, we will be looking at investing in new technology. We are starting to look at geospatial applications. We are considering trying to link relevant information (about dieback locations) into Google Maps. I also think there may be some interesting applications or tools emanating from the military, which we could potentially use to help us manage dieback biosecurity. Another opportunity for us is to consider using environmental DNA to speed up our surveys for the disease. These capabilities, however, are very much in their infancy.

FDI: Are there ways that we can innovate our approaches within the environmental sector to enhance agricultural and other applications?

Justin Bellanger: South Coast NRM is an independent, not-for-profit, community-based group. It has chosen to take the lead in combatting dieback in WA, because it considers the problem on a whole-of-landscape basis. In many cases, unfortunately, government agencies are limited to actions consistent with their statutory responsibilities. Our approach, however, is to address management of the entire landscape. Consequently, we have priority areas for protection that run across a range that includes private land, un-allocated Crown land and government-managed land tenures. Our Dieback Management and Investment Framework does not have boundaries and our resources are allocated according to need.

The South Coast NRM group is committed to a continuous improvement process, as we learn from our experiences. I mentioned before that dieback affects some of our important agricultural crops in Western Australia. The group believes that many of our practices and techniques can help offset this and are easily adaptable to the agricultural and horticultural sectors. I think there are opportunities to engage with private landholders who have invested significant capital in their land assets and also with other public land managers, such as local governments, which might have responsibility for disease-infested areas, particularly roads and other thoroughfares. The group would be interested in working with them to identify where it might be appropriate to offer advice and assistance.

FDI: Do you have a sense that the members of the agricultural community have sufficient understanding of this issue?

Justin Bellanger: I do not believe they do, which is a shame for two reasons. Firstly, because of the risk it presents to agricultural productivity and the likely flow-on to the general economy. Secondly, there are some fantastic pockets of dieback-free native vegetation on farms, which have survived because they have been isolated from the predominant vectors of dieback, such as roadbuilding machinery. In addition, isolation and distance have meant that bushwalkers, recreational vehicles, campers and others, have not been to these farming properties. These areas represent a priority future management task.

*****

About the Interviewee:

Justin Bellanger is the Chief Executive Officer of the South Coast NRM. He has worked in the natural resource management field for over 12 years in executive roles, overseeing a community-led approach to protecting threatened species and landscapes. This is done by ensuring that adequate planning and resources are in place for both grass-roots practitioners and science-based professionals, in the South Coast Region. He has the great privilege of working with an exceptionally skilled team and a deeply passionate and engaged community in a very special part of Western Australia.

*****

Read the original post:

Justin Bellanger: The Dieback Disease Threat to the Forests of South-West Western Australia - Future Directions International

03/26/2020 | 05:58am EDT

P e t r o C h i n a C o m p a n y L i m i t e d

Press Release

9

9 Dongzhimen North Street, Dongcheng

100007

District, Beijing,100007,P.R.China

86-10-59986266

TEL:86-10-59986266

86-10-62099559FAX:86-10-62099559

Focuses on quality-based growth while transforming through

innovation

PetroChina's Oil and Gas Business Maintains

Positive Growth Momentum in 2019

(Beijing, 26 March 2020) - PetroChina Company Limited ("PetroChina" or "the Company", HKSE: 0857; NYSE: PTR; SSE: 601857) announced today that in 2019, amid the complicated and severe softening global economic growth, wide swings in international oil prices, fiercer competition in the domestic oil and gas market, and the significant increase of risks and challenges, the Company adhered to its guidelines of quality-based business growth, optimized production organizations, promoted structural adjustment of its business, fostered reform and innovation, and strengthened risk control; while continuously reducing expenditures, cutting costs as well as enhancing efficiency. Major production indicators recorded stable growth and the operating results were in line with expectations, with efforts of growing upstream reserve and production especially effective. Under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), PetroChina recorded a revenue of RMB2,520 billion in 2019, representing an increase of 6.0% compared with the same period last year. Operating profit was RMB121.762 billion. Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders of the Company was RMB45.682 billion, and basic earnings per share was RMB0.25. To deliver better returns for shareholders, the Company recommended a final dividend of RMB0.06601, representing a 70.0% dividend ratio. The cash dividend consists of a dividend of RMB0.04243 per share (based on 45% of the net profit

1

attributable to owners of the Company for the second half of 2019 under IFRS)

together with an additional special dividend of RMB0.02358 per share.

Annual Results Review

Strengthened risk exploration to secure prominent position in oil and gas

supply. In 2019, PetroChina adhered to the strategy of efficiency-oriented exploration and development, with domestic risk exploration achieving three strategic breakthroughs and four important discoveries. Measures to increase reserves and production achieved significant results with output rebounding in crude oil, output in natural gas also recorded the largest increase in five years. Significant progress was made in risk exploration and progressive exploration of regions overseas, leading to an increase in both the output and effectiveness in the oil and gas business. In 2019, the Company's total crude oil output amounted to 909 million barrels, representing an increase of 2.1% compared with last year. The marketable natural gas output reached 3,910 billion cubic feet, representing an increase of 8.3% compared with last year. The oil and natural gas equivalent output amounted to 1,561 million barrels, representing an increase of 4.6% compared with last year. The Company strengthened cost control of investments from its origin, and reinforced the precise management for its production and operation. The Exploration and Production segment realized an operating profit of RMB96,097 million, an increase of 30.7%, continuing to be the major contributor to the profit of the Company. The oil and gas lifting cost was US$12.11 per barrel, representing a decrease of 1.6% year on year.

Proactively developed highly efficient markets, accelerated transition and

upgrade. The Refining and Chemicals segment actively controlled the volume of refined products and increased the production of chemicals, and propelled the transition and upgrade of refining and chemicals business. In 2019, the Company processed 1,228 million barrels of crude oil; the production of refined oil products was 118 million tons; the chemical products output was 25.756 million tons, up 5.5% year-on-year, and output of ethylene was 5.863 million tons, up 5.3% year-on-year. The Company continued to strengthen its benchmarking in management, enhanced

2

cost control, and the Refining and Chemicals segment achieved an operating profit of RMB13.764 billion. The Marketing segment actively responded to the challenges of severe refined products surplus and fiercer market competition, by utilizing and driving synergies from domestic and international resources, enhancing precise and strategic marketing, and adopting differentiated marketing strategies. The annual sales of refined oil products reached 188 million tons, up 5.1% year-on-year. The Marketing segment realized an operating loss of RMB565 million, representing a decrease of loss of RMB5.885 billion year-on-year. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment optimized domestic and international resources, implemented state price policy, expanded the development of end-user marketing and raised efficiency, prioritized goals to ensure the full sales of domestic production, and worked hard in increasing the price and raising efficiency. The Company carried out construction of key projects in an orderly manner, including the completion and operation of the northern section of China-RussiaEast-Route Natural Gas Pipeline. In 2019, sales of natural gas was 259.091 billion cubic meters, up 19.5% year-on-year, including domestic sales of natural gas of 171.381 billion cubic meters, up 7.4% year-on-year. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment achieved an operating profit of RMB26.108 billion, up 2.3% year-on-year.

Continuously deepened reform while driving business development

through innovation. The Company insisted on driving innovation and pushing advances in technologies to assist the development of its oil and gas business. The Exploration and Production segment worked on complex geological structures, and discovered the Qingcheng oilfield in Changqing, and two gas fields including the shale gas blocks in Sichuan and Bozi-Dabei gas area in Tarim, which consolidated the Company's resources base. The 100-million-ton production capacity and efficient development of carbonate reservoir in the Middle East won first prize of the National Award for Science and Technology Progress. The refining business implemented and executed a high-quality development plan, and outputs of high value-added products increased significantly. The refinery renovation project of Huabei Petrochemical was put into operation. The orderly construction of important projects included the

3

integration project of refining and chemicals of Guangdong Petrochemical, the Tarim and Changqing ethane-to-ethylene projects and the structural adjustment of Daqing Petrochemical. The Company continuously deepened the application of information technology in the industrial chain, accelerated advances in the construction of digital oilfields, intelligent refineries and intelligent pipelines, digital gas stations and the Internet of Things, which all upgraded the operational efficiency and reliability of the Company.

Fulfilled social responsibilities while promoting the transformation

towards green development. The Company proactively explored the low carbon transition in the oil and gas industry, fostered green energy production and the advancement of green technologies. On the one hand, the efforts of domestic natural gas exploration will be further strengthened, and both multi-national and domestic pipeline infrastructure construction will speed up. On the other hand, the Company formulated and implemented its action plan for new energy development, explored the utilization of new energies like geothermal, solar, wind and gas hydrate, by accelerating the formation of a green development pattern which oil and gas remained as major energy complemented by other energy sources. For the full year, nearly 70 aid projects were implemented, the targeted poverty alleviation funds raised 73% more than 2018; the localization strategy was also widely executed overseas, with a localization rate above 90%. Recently, facing the sudden and fierce situation of the COVID-19, the Company is fully committed to ensuring the production of oil and gas, increasing the supply of resources for epidemic prevention, and resolutely fighting against and containing the epidemic.

Outlook

Looking forward in 2020, amid geopolitical tensions, uncertainties about the global oil price, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic in various countries, the global economy is facing downward risks. Yet, China's economic momentum will ensure the growth trend remains stable and favorable in the mid to long term. The Company will adhere to executing the strategies of resource, marketing,

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internationalization and innovation, while focusing on efficiency and fostering high-quality developments, as well as maintaining steady advances in its oil and gas business. The Company will also deepen reform and innovation, attach great

importance to the research and development of new energy and renewable energy,

to fuel the growth of the Company and effectively enhance value creation. These

measures will help the Company transform its status as a top-class international

energy company to a new level, bringing fruitful value and returns to shareholders

associated with the growth of PetroChina.

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Additional information on PetroChina is available at the Company's website: http://www.petrochina.com.cn

Issued by PetroChina Company Limited

For further information, please contact:

PetroChina Company Limited

PR Agency (Overseas media):

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Fax: (852) 2576 1990

Doris Zhao

Tel: (852) 2894 6231

Email: doris.zhao@hkstrategies.com

PR Agency (Domestic media):

EverBloom Investment Consulting Lt. Co.

Fax: (8610) 8562 3181

Liu Ping

Tel: (8610) 5166 3828

Email: ping.liu@everbloom.com.cn

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Disclaimer

PetroChina Company Ltd. published this content on 26 March 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 26 March 2020 09:57:07 UTC

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