Chinese state-controlled frms PetroChina and Sinopec returned to proftability in the third quarter as fuel demand rebounded. The sale of their gas infrastructure assets gave a further, one-of boost to profts. The oil giants’ profts rallied dramatically in July-September amid a strength-ening of downstream margins, while upstream profts fell (see table). “Down-stream business performance has returned to pre-Covid levels,” Sinopec head of investor relations Chen Yang says. Sinopec’s combined downstream profts rose by 12bn yuan ($1.7bn) from a year earlier to almost Yn29bn, while PetroChina’s rose by Yn16bn. Sinopec ran a record 5.04mn b/d through its refning system in the third quarter, after opening its frst new refnery in over a decade at Zhanjiang on China’s south coast, and refning margins improved to $5.20/bl compared with a negative $2/bl in the second quarter. China’s lockdown ended in early April.
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