China Petroleum Chemical Corp (Sinopec), the nation's largest refiner, said Tuesday its 2006 net profit rose 30.1 percent to 53.9 billion yuan (US$7 billion) under international accounting
standards.
Sinopec's strong performance was boosted by a one-off subsidy of 5.0 billion yuan from the central government last year along with higher crude oil and gas prices, the company said in a statement posted on its website.
In order to insulate consumers from high crude oil prices, the Chinese government sets the price of refined oil products below market value and then provides a subsidy to refiners, which partially covers the difference.
In its annual report, Sinopec said revenue in 2006 grew 29.3 percent to 1.1 trillion yuan.
Crude oil output in 2006 was 285.2 million barrels, up 2.3 percent, while natural gas output increased 15.6 percent to 7.7 billion cubic metres (256.5 billion cubic feet).
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Sinopec's Net Profit Surged By One Third
Sinopec's strong performance was boosted by a one-off subsidy of 5.0 billion yuan from the central government last year
