The company, known as Sinopec, will process 121mn tonnes of crude oil in the second half of the year, the same as in the first half, and its fuel sales will be 90.5mn tonnes, compared to 96.48mn in the first half, it said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Net income for the company for the first half was 41.6bn yuan ($6.05bn), rising 53.6% from a year ago, the statement said.
That beat a company forecast of 50% profit growth as the upstream and refining sectors delivered strong results.
Total revenue in the first six months of the year rose to 1.3tn yuan, up 11.5% from a year earlier, amid higher crude prices, rising natural gas production and stronger fuel margins, the statement said.
The company does not give a breakdown for results for the second quarter but, based on Reuters calculations based on Sinopec’s first quarter earnings, revenue in the second quarter was 679bn yuan.
Net income in the second quarter rose to 22.8bn yuan from 18.8bn yuan in first quarter, the Reuters calculations showed, the highest since at least the start of 2013.
“Sinopec ramped up efforts to sell fuel in domestic market by giving a discount especially for diesel in the second quarter.
The discounts have boosted sales volume but hurt revenue,” Eyebright Securities said in a research note last week after the company gave a results forecast.
Crude oil production in the first half fell 1.6% from the same period a year earlier to 143.6mn barrels, while natural gas output was up 5.3% from a year earlier to 476.2bn cubic feet, Sinopec said.
Sinopec will produce 146mn barrels of crude oil in the second half of 2018, it said.
Refined product sales in the first half were down 2.1% from the same period a year earlier.