Thanks to the low international oil price, China's crude oil import costs saw significant decline, which gave rise to the outstanding fiscal performance for listed oil refiners in the second quarter.
Statistics released from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed that China imported 163.37 million metric tons (tonnes) of crude oil in the first half of the year, up 7.49 percent year on year, with the import value down 41.72 percent year on year to 177.09 billion yuan.
Meanwhile, the import price for crude oil stood at 2599.2 yuan per tonne in the first six months, down 45.8 percent year on year. In the first quarter, international oil price slumped to 43 U.S. dollars per barrel, a new low in nearly six years.
However, in the second quarter, oil price rebounded to 60 U.S. dollars per barrel. Despite the rising oil price, international oil price remains at a low level as compared with that in the previous years. Thanks to the low oil price, large oil refiners saw jolly fiscal report in the second quarter.
China's largest oil refiner Sinopec (SNP.NYSE; 00386.HK; 600028.SH) expected its second quarter net profits attributable to listing company shareholders to hike more than 1,000 percent compared with previous quarter. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (600688.SH) estimated its net profits in the second quarter to turn loss to gain, ranging between 1.68 billion yuan and 1.78 billion yuan.
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