Sinopec Profit More than Doubled

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp or Sinopec said net profit in the first quarter more than doubled to 19.4 billion yuan thanks to weaker global oil prices.

Net profit surged 104 percent to 19.4 billion from 9.5 billion yuan a year ago, while revenues jumped 23 percent to 279.6 billion yuan from 227 billion yuan, Sinopec said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The refiner attributed bottom-line growth to weak oil prices globally, but "strong oil price in the mainland," which resulted in a turnaround in the refining business.

"The improvement should continue in the first quarter of 2007 as the average oil price fell and regulated product prices were reduced only slightly," Citigroup said in a report.

During the first quarter of the year, Sinopec processed 36.9 million tonnes of crude oil, up from 35.2 million tonnes from the same period last year. It also produced 99 million tonnes of crude, up 2 percent, while natural gas production increased 10 percent to 1.9 billion cubic meters.