Sinopec, China’s state-owned oil and gas enterprise, saw reduced profit in 2022.
According to its financial report released Sunday, revenue last year reached 3.3 trillion yuan (US$480 billion), up 21.1 percent compared with 2021, but net profit was down 6.9 percent to 66.3 billion yuan.
The international crude oil price dropped for a few months last year but soon shot up. The average price of Brent crude oil was US$101, up 43.1 percent year on year. In China, demand for petrochemicals was low due to the pandemic.
Last year, Sinopec’s procurement costs increased by 29.3 percent to 2.6 trillion yuan, and 1 trillion yuan was used to buy crude, up 45 percent year on year. This resulted in a decline in Sinopec’s refining business.
The lower demand and higher costs have widened the losses of Sinopec’s chemical division to a 14.3 billion yuan loss, which was more than double compared with 2021.
Meanwhile, the oil equivalent production of Sinopec last year reached a new high of 690 million tons.
