Sinopec's interim profit rises on higher oil and gas prices

China Petroleum (NYSE:SNP) and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec (NYSE:SHI) Corp, reported interim net income rose 10.4% to 43.53 billion yuan ($6.33 billion) on strong oil and gas prices despite weaker domestic fuel sales.

Sinopec, the world's largest refiner by capacity, reported six-month revenues of 1.61 trillion yuan, up 27.9% from a year earlier. Local rivals PetroChina and CNOOC (NYSE:CEO) Ltd. also reported record interim profits. Sinopec processed a total of 120.76 million tons of crude oil during the period, down 4.2% from a year ago, and refined fuel sales fell 9.8% to 98.42 million tons, the company said in a statement. Tight COVID-19 restrictions and fuel export restrictions reduced production, causing refinery output in China to decline year-on-year for the first time since 2011. Sinopec produced 139.65 million barrels of crude oil in the six-month period, up 1.1%, while natural gas production rose 5.4% to 613.92 billion cubic feet. Six-month capital expenditures amounted to 64.65 billion yuan, up from 57.94 billion yuan a year earlier.   Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!