Demand rose after China eased restrictions on fuel prices last December, and that translated a record second-quarter profit for Asia's biggest refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec.
Beijing-based Sinopec's net income surged to 22 billion yuan ($3.22 billion) in the three months that ended June 30, according to estimates by Bloomberg News. That easily topped the analysts' consensus estimate of 15.8 billion yuan.
Compare that to the earnings declines recently reported by the world's largest oil companies Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), which have suffered as the global recession tamped down demand for fuel in the U.S. and Europe.
Sinopec also forecast that crude oil prices will rise in the second half of the year and that domestic fuel demand will maintain steady growth. The company plans to expand its refining capacity by 13.6% to 220 million metric tons a year by 2010. It also said it would expand its global reach. The company recently completed an acquisition that secures it reserves in Iraq and Africa, adding to current assets in Angola, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, and Russia.
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