Sinopec Q3 IFRS Profit Rises 63.6% as Nine-Month Fuel Demand Falls

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, known as Sinopec, posted third-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of 13.60 billion yuan under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), up 63.6% from a year earlier, even as fuel demand and crude processing declined over the first nine months of 2026.

For the July-September quarter, revenue rose 9.3% to 769.735 billion yuan. Under a separate presentation using Chinese accounting standards, profit increased 57.2% to 13.361 billion yuan from 8.501 billion yuan a year earlier. The two profit growth rates reflect different accounting standards.

Sinopec attributed the quarterly profit increase mainly to wider spreads for refining and chemical products, changes in its product mix and increased output of higher-value products. Those products included jet fuel, naphtha and refining byproducts.

For the first nine months, IFRS profit rose 25.3% to 40.167 billion yuan, while revenue increased 4.4% to 2.206 trillion yuan. Sinopec also cited inventory gains associated with higher crude prices during that period.

The average Brent spot price for January through September was $94.05 per barrel, up 32.7% from a year earlier. Sinopec’s realized crude price averaged $81.92 per barrel, a 23.4% increase from $66.38. Both comparisons cover the first nine months, not the third quarter alone.

Domestic refined-oil consumption declined 8.6% year over year in the first nine months, while ethylene-equivalent consumption fell 9.4%. Crude processing dropped 10.2% to 167.37 million metric tons.

Refined-product sales fell 11.4% to 151.91 million metric tons, including a 10.7% decline in domestic sales to 118.90 million metric tons. Sinopec’s chemicals segment recorded an operating loss of 1.69 billion yuan.