China’s Sinopec ended the first half of 2021 with a net profit of 40 billion yuan ($ 6.2 billion), Bloomberg reports.
The same period last year ended with a loss of 21.8 billion yuan for the company, which was caused by a sharp decrease in demand for oil and petroleum products in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The recovery in the Chinese economy in the first half of 2021 allowed the company to return to profit, in particular due to increased demand for fuel for transportation and plastics.
During the reporting period, Sinopec refineries processed 13.7% more oil than last year, taking advantage of significantly higher prices for petroleum products. The volume of oil and gas production increased by 4.2% to 235.3 million barrels in oil equivalent. At the same time, oil production fell by 1.5%, while gas production, on the contrary, increased by 13.7%.
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