China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), one of the nation's two leading onshore oil producers, reported net profits up 28.08 percent to 50.66 billion yuan (6.6 billion U.S. dollars) in its annual report on Tuesday.

The company's earnings per share stood at 0.58 yuan, with earnings against assets at 19.9 percent.

Takings on its major business amounted to 1.04 trillion yuan (135.6 billion U.S. dollars), up 30.72 percent.

The Shanghai and New York-listed company, also a major oil refiner, produced more than 40 million tons of crude oil and approximately 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, a company source said.

In 2006, Sinopec ranked third in the world in terms of oil refining capacity, fourth in ethylene production and third in the number of gas stations, said chairman Chen Tonghai. Sinopec operates independently 28,000 gas stations in China.

Last year Sinopec discovered an extra large natural gas field in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Industry observers believed this would boost the company's performance.

Chen said in 2006 Sinopec processed 146.32 million tons of crude oil, up 4.6 percent from the previous year. Owing to international price hikes for crude oil, the company incurred 20 yuan (2.6 U.S. dollars) per ton in losses on its refining business last year.

Source: Xinhua