China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), the world's largest oil refiner by capacity, reported a 2.6 per cent increase in net profit for the first half of 2024. This translates to a net income of 37.1 billion yuan ($5.21 billion) for the period from January to June, according to a filing with the Shanghai stock exchange. While rising oil prices boosted Sinopec's income, the company also experienced a 1.1 per cent decline in total sales to 1.58 trillion yuan. Ethylene production, a key component in petrochemical manufacturing, also fell by 5.5 per cent during the first half of the year. Despite these setbacks, Sinopec maintained its crude oil production, registering a slight increase of 0.6 per cent to reach 140.53 million barrels. Natural gas production also saw a positive trend, rising six per cent to 700.57 billion cubic feet. The company processed 126.69 million metric tons of crude oil during the first half, equivalent to approximately 5.08 million barrels per day (bpd). This represents a modest 0.1 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2023. Notably, the growth in crude oil processing slowed down compared to the 1.7 per cent observed in the first quarter of 2024. This slowdown can be attributed to higher crude oil prices and tepid domestic fuel demand. Attribution: Reuters
