China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation SNP, also known as Sinopec, reported 2021 earnings of RMB71,208 million or RMB0.588 per share compared with RMB33,271 million or RMB0.275 in the year-earlier period.

Moreover, Sinopec’s total revenues in the year improved 30.2% from the 2020 level to RMB2,740,884 million.

The strong results were driven by the recovery in demand for refined oil products, natural gas and chemical products.

Reserves

Sinopec’s proved reserves of oil reached 1,749 million barrels as of Dec 31, 2021, representing an improvement from 1,542 as of Dec 31, 2020. The company reported 8,456 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas as of 2021-end, reflecting an increase from 8,191 billion cubic feet as of Dec 31, 2020.

Operational Performance

Exploration and Production: In 2021, Sinopec’s total crude oil production dipped a marginal 0.2% year over year to 279.76million barrels. Although oil production in the domestic market was almost flat at 249.60 million barrels, overseas volume dropped 1.8% year over year to 30.16 million barrels.

Natural gas volume grew 11.9% year over year to 1,199.44 billion cubic feet in 2021. Also, total oil and gas production rose 4.5% year over year to 479.74 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Operating profit from this segment in 2021 was recorded at RMB4,685 million against a loss of RMB16,476 million in 2020, mainly attributable to rising oil prices.

Refining: Sinopec’s refining business recorded refinery throughput of 255.28million tons (up 7.8% year over year). It also produced 146.21 million tons of petroleum products, accounting for a 3.3% improvement from the 2020-level.

Segmental operating profit of Sinopec was recorded at RMB65,279 million in 2021 versus a loss of RMB5,525 million in 2020. Higher refinery throughput aided the segment.

Marketing and Distribution: The Marketing and Distribution segment sold 220.79 million tons of oil products, depicting a 1.3% year-over-year improvement. Of the total figure, domestic sales volume came in at 171.31 million tons, up 2% from the 2020-level.

Average throughput was recorded at 3,720 tons per station in 2021 compared with 3,686 tons in 2020. Operating profit from the segment grossed RMB21,204 million in 2021, up 1.8% from the 2020-level due to higher sales volumes.

Chemicals: During 2021, ethylene production increased 10.9% year over year to 13,380thousand tons from 12,060 thousand tons. Notably, the production of Synthetic resin was 18,999 thousand tons compared with 17,370 thousand tons in the year-ago period.