Sinopec reports enormous net profit in first three quarters

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, announced on Thursday its net profit during the first three quarters reached 60.755 billion yuan ($9.5 billion), up 148.5 percent year-on-year.

The company's operating income in the first three quarters reached 2 trillion yuan, up 29 percent year-on-year. Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the company reached 59.89 billion yuan, it said.

During the first three quarters, the company achieved good performance in operation and profitability. Oil and gas production, refinery throughput, total domestic sales volume of refined oil products and total chemical products sales volume recorded year-on-year increase. Operating profit was 84.81 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 1,578.3 percent.

Domestic demand for natural gas continued to grow rapidly, with an apparent consumption up by 16.6 percent year-on-year. Domestic demand for refined oil products recovered steadily and demand for major chemicals sustained stable.

The company attributed the performance to expanding markets and controlling costs, despite international oil prices going up.

During the first nine months, the company has also strengthened risk exploration in new regions and new sectors, which led to new discoveries in the Tarim, Sichuan, and Erdos Basins, as well as major breakthroughs in continental shale oilfields of the Bohai Bay, Sichuan and North Jiangsu Basins.

The company has also efficiently proceeded with the capacity building of major natural gas and crude oil projects, and natural gas production increased by 13.7 percent year-on-year and crude oil production kept stable.