March 29 (AP) -- Sinopec, Asia's biggest
refiner by volume, said profit more than doubled in 2009 on lower crude oil
costs and a revival in demand amid China's stimulus-fueled recovery.
Sinopec, also known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., said profit
for 2009 rose to 61.3 billion yuan ($8.97 billion) or 0.7 yuan (10 cents) a
share. Its profit in 2008 was 28.4 billion yuan.
The company has benefited from the government's decision to ease controls
that battered Sinopec in previous years by preventing it from passing on record
crude costs to consumers. Beijing raised state-set prices of gasoline and diesel
several times last year to reflect higher global oil costs.
Sinopec said it paid an average of $61.50 per barrel for crude oil last
year, down 36.6 percent from the year before.
But lower prices also took a bite out of Sinopec's revenue, which fell 10
percent to 1.35 trillion yuan ($197.7 billion) from 1.5 trillion yuan the year
before.
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