The listed arms of the three oil giants in China have suffered huge falls in their last year net profit, as a result of which the three oil giants will cut exploration spend and other new investments, however, when it comes to labor costs of several hundred thousands of workers, the spending cut will be stalled.

ANBOUND's research team is of the view that at the time of listing, the three oil giants have chosen only their best assets for listing while offering a large number of employees early retirement buyouts.

Meanwhile, in the past, the three oil giants have provided for the various aspects of their employees’ daily life, resulting in huge expenses.

Therefore, in the short term, it is very hard for the three oil giants to achieve cost efficiency by reducing both their staff and non-productive expenditure.