(Yicai Global) Oct. 29 -- China Petroleum and Chemical moved back into the black in the third quarter after demand for the firm’s products picked up amid a recovery in China’s economy and it sold assets to the country’s new oil and gas pipeline giant.

Net profit was CNY46.4 billion (USD6.9 billion) in the three months ended September, the state-owned energy and chemicals behemoth, better known as Sinopec, said in an earnings report published yesterday.

The coronavirus pandemic has steamrollered the global economy, weakening demand, causing a plunge in international crude oil prices and a number of risks to converge and spiral this year. Sinopec lost almost USD3.4 billion in the first half.

The Beijing-based company said it has “seized the opportunity of domestic market demand recovery and made all-out efforts to tide over the difficulties of the pandemic along with low crude oil prices.”

The average price quotation for Brent crude oil that S&P Global Platts provided in the first three quarters was USD42.5 a barrel, down 34.4 percent from a year earlier, Sinopec said.

Sinopec’s sale of part of its assets to China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network, also known as PipeChina, swelled third-quarter earnings by CNY32.2 billion, it said. Sinopec and compatriot energy giant PetroChina agreed in July to transfer their pipeline and storage assets to PipeChina, which was formed last year to help streamline and promote development of the country’s energy infrastructure.

Net profit in the period -- after deducting non-recurring gains and losses -- rose 27.5 percent to about CNY14.1 billion.

Shares in Sinopec [SHA: 600028] ended little changed today at CNY3.89 (58 US cents) each, a gain of 0.3 percent. The stock has lost 24 percent of its value this year.

For the nine months ended September, Sinopec’s net profit fell 46 percent from a year earlier to CNY23.5 billion on a 30 percent drop in revenue to CNY1.55 trillion (USD230.6 billion).

Sinopec produced the same amount of domestic crude oil in the first nine months as in the same period a year ago, while the volume of its natural gas sales rose 9.9 percent with continual growth of its market share.

“Domestic demand for natural gas and chemical products maintained growth and demand for refined oil products recovered steadily quarter on quarter,” the firm said.

Sinopec also used its advantages in resources and technologies to quickly shift to production of healthcare raw materials and completed the world’s largest plant making nonwoven meltdown fabric for face masks to meet demand mid the pandemic, its semi-annual report said earlier.

Editor: Ben Armour