Sinopec, China’s biggest oil refiner, posted its first ever loss over a half-year period, on the back of collapsing oil prices and the coronavirus’s impact on demand for fuel in the country, reported the Financial Times.
The state-backed company reported a loss of RMB 21.7 billion ($3.2 billion) in the six months to the end of June — the first of its kind since the group listed in Hong Kong in 2000, and far below a profit of RMB 32.2 billion for the same period last year.
China’s biggest oil companies have during the past week unveiled the scale of losses resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to put pressure on its largely state-controlled energy industry even as the country enters a period of gradual economic recovery.
The figures come days after PetroChina, the listed-arm of China’s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation, reported a loss of just under RMB 30 billion in the first half as well as write downs of RMB 8.2 billion.
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