China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) on Tuesday announced net profits of 48.7 billion yuan (6.5 billion US dollars) in the first three quarters, up 43.65 percent from the same period last year.

Business revenue of the country's largest oil refiner rose 13.64 percent to 875.2 billion yuan from January to September.

The profit rise comes largely from the refining sector thanks to lower crude oil prices, according to the company.

The refining sector reported operating income of 214 million yuan in the first nine months, against a loss of 29.65 billion yuan in the same period of 2006.

Sinopec's crude oil output reached 30.69 million tons in the first nine months, up 2.23 percent.

The share price of Sinopec went up 5.27 percent to 26.15 yuan on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Its Hong Kong share price rose 2.05 percent to 11.92 HK dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2007)