China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), the nation's largest oil refiner, said Tuesday that it processed 101.45 million tonnes of crude oil in the first half of 2010, up 16.74 percent year on year due to strong growth of the Chinese economy.

The company, also a leading oil producer, said in a preliminary report that its natural gas output rose strongly by 40.73 percent from the same period last year to 200.56 billion cubic meters despite crude oil output only rising 0.05 percent to 149.19 million barrels.

Sinopec saw diesel output rise by 13.33 percent to 36.72 million tonnes in the first half from a year earlier, while kerosene was up 29.96 percent, the company said.

Strong domestic economic growth in the first half had contributed to the increases in its rising output.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 11.1 percent year on year in the first half, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Gasoline output rose by 4.59 percent year on year in the first half, said the company.

Ethylene went up by 41.34 percent, synthetic resins by 28.51 percent, synthetic fibers by 7.47 percent and synthetic rubbers by 18.58 percent.

Domestic sales of refined oil products rose sharply by 18.09 percent year on year to 68.15 million tonnes in the first half.

Sinopec reported its net profit in the first quarter rose 39.93 percent year on year to 15.785 billion yuan (about 2.3 billion U.S. dollars).

Listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai, Sinopec is the listed subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group).

The company share price in the mainland A-share market gained 3.58 percent to 8.38 yuan on Tuesday and climbed 0.832 percent in the Hong Kong market to 6.06 Hong Kong dollars.