BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) on Sunday reported a 53.6 percent increase in net profit for the first half of 2018, mainly due to strong energy demand and higher oil prices.
Sinopec net profit was 41.6 billion yuan (about 6.1 billion U.S. dollars) between January and June, according to financial results filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Its revenue rose 11.5 percent year on year to 1.3 trillion yuan in the first half of the year.
The company mainly attributed its performance to China's steady economic growth along with rising demand for oil and natural gas, in addition to higher oil prices.
In H1, international oil prices kept rising despite fluctuations, with the spot price of Brent crude oil surging 36.2 percent year on year to 70.55 U.S. dollars per barrel.
For the second half of the year, the company said the Chinese economy would keep stable growth with steadily increasing domestic demand for refined oil products and petrochemical products. Demand for natural gas is also expected to rise rapidly amid the country's adjustment of energy structure, it said.
Sinopec shares increased 0.91 percent to close at 6.63 yuan per share on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Friday.
