Sinopec Profit Surges, Shale Project On Track

Chinese Sinopec April 27 reported a 158% year on year increase in 1Q profit on the back of higher oil price and stable demand. For the quarter that ended March 31 company’s profit was Chinese yuan 17.2bn ($2.5bn).

During 1Q Sinopec’s natural gas production increased by 12.8% year on year. However, overall production declined 2.4% mainly because of a 9.2% decrease in oil production.

Phase two of its Fuling shale gas development project progressed according to plan, Sinopec said. The first phase of the Fuling shale project in Chongqing went into production in 2015. Last year, Sinopec announced it is aiming to produce 10bn m³ of shale gas by 2020 from the field. It further stated that the target is to have production capacity of 15bn m³/yr by that year. 

Capital expenditures for exploration and production segment were Chinese yuan 1.46bn, mainly for its Fuling shale gas development projects, LNG terminal projects, and overseas projects.

On April 27, BP announced that Sinopec had agreed to buy the 50% of the Secco petrochemical joint venture that it did not already own for $1.68bn.

Shardul Sharma