China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (SNP.NYSE, 600028.SH, 0386.HKG), also known as Sinopec, saw its first-half net profit fall 41% as operating losses from its refining business climbed 52% year-on-year to US$2.91 billion, Market Watch reported. Asia’s largest refiner by capacity, Sinopec said its net profit from January to June fell to US$3.85 billion from US$6.47 billion a year earlier. Revenue increased 9.3% to US$0.21 trillion due to greater contributions from the upstream exploration and production business. China’s state-mandated fuel-pricing system prevents Chinese refiners from passing higher crude costs to consumers, resulting in large losses in the sector. Sinopec has the largest downstream business of any state-owned oil company; PetroChina (PTR.NYSE, 601857.SH, 0857.HKG), Sinopec’s biggest rival, last week reported a 6% decline in its net profit.
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