BEIJING, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Chinese refiner Sinopec posted a 52.1% year-on-year decline in net profit to 8.54 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) for the third quarter because of lower oil prices and weak refining margins.
The world's largest refiner by capacity, Sinopec's third-quarter revenue was 790.4 billion yuan, down 9.8% from a year earlier, the company said in a stock market filing on Monday.
Also on Monday, domestic peer and offshore oil and gas major CNOOC Ltd reported a 9% increase in quarterly profit to 36.93 billion yuan as higher output offset lower prices.
Between January and September, Sinopec processed 190.69 million metric tons of crude oil, or 5.08 million barrels per day, down 1.6% from a year earlier, while refined fuel output fell 0.8% to 116.6 million tons.
Refinery output was dragged down by a drop in diesel production, which fell 10.7% to 43.29 million tons. Gasoline output rose 4.1% to 49.21 million tons and jet fuel gained 10.5% to 24.1 million tons.
Sales of refined fuels rose 0.6% year-on-year in the first nine months to 181.67 million tons. Of that, domestic sales made up 138.06 million tons, down 3.2%.
The company said China's apparent consumption of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel fell 1% during the first nine months, dragged down by falling diesel demand. Domestic consumption of natural gas rose 9.5% during the period and ethylene consumption grew 3.9%.
Sinopec also produced 211.29 million tons of crude oil during the first three quarters of 2024, up 0.3% on the year, while natural gas output rose 5.6% to 1,048 billion cubic feet.
Capital expenditure for the first nine months reached 86.35 billion yuan, down from 108.16 billion in the year-earlier period. Of that, 50.77 billion went to exploration and development, primarily at the company's pilot shale oil field in eastern China's Jiyang, its Tahe oilfield in Xinjiang, and its Chuanxi gas field in Sichuan.
The chemicals segment also dragged down the results, incurring a net loss of 4.9 billion yuan.
Sinopec's Hong Kong-listed shares have risen 10.27% year-to-date, underperforming the Hang Seng index which has risen 20.84% during the period.
(metric ton = 7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion)
Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by David Holmes
Source: Reuters