Sinopec profit surges on Chinese fuel, plastics demand

Bloomberg

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, commonly known as Sinopec, returned to profit in the first half
as the nation’s recovery from the pandemic boosted demand for the refiner’s transport fuels and plastics.
Asia’s biggest oil
refiner posted a net profit of $6.2 billion, compared with a loss of 21.8 billion yuan a year ago, the company said in a statement, using international accounting standards.
The company in July forecast net income of between 36.5 billion yuan and 38.5 billion yuan under Chinese accounting standards.
Sinopec posted an operating profit of 39 billion yuan in its main refining business, compared to a loss of
31.7 billion yuan a year earlier.

The chemicals division posted a 13 billion yuan operating profit, compared to 3 billion yuan in the first half of 2020.
Capital expenditure was 57.9 billion yuan in the first half, compared to 45 billion yuan the previous year, amid efforts to boost drilling to help ensure secure energy supplies.
Its refineries processed 13.7% more oil in the first half compared with the same period the year before as rising fuel prices created attractive profit margins, the company said previously in an operational report.
Oil and gas production increased 4.2% to 235.3 million barrels of oil equivalent, with crude output falling 1.5% and natural gas rising 13.7%. It plans to produce 141 million barrels of crude and 633.5bcf of natural gas in the second half.
Sinopec’s second-half earnings will be supported by an uptick in oil-product demand, though the pace of growth may slow, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Henik Fung.