Sinopec's interim profit soars on stronger oil, gas prices

(Reuters) - China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec Corp, reported interim net income surged 10.4% to a record 43.53 billion yuan ($6.33 billion), thanks to strong oil and gas prices despite weakened domestic fuel sales.

Sinopec, the world's largest refiner by capacity, reported revenues of 1.61 trillion yuan for the six months, up 27.9% from year earlier levels.

Domestic peers PetroChina and CNOOC Ltd. have all reported record interim profits.

During the period, Sinopec processed a total of 120.76 million tonnes of crude oil, down 4.2% versus a year ago, and its refined fuel sales fell 9.8% to 98.42 million tonnes, the company said in a stock filing.

Strict COVID-19 restrictions and fuel export curbs dampened production led to first annual decline in refnery output in China since at 2011.

Sinopec produced 139.65 million barrels of crude oil during th six months, up 1.1%, while its natural gas output gained 5.4% to 613.92 billion cubic feet.

Capital expenditure for the half-year came in at 64.65 billion yuan, versus 57.94 billion yuan a year earlier.

($1 = 6.8715 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)