SINGAPORE: Top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp posted a 149% rise in net income in the first nine months of the year, a company filing showed on Thursday, bolstered by improving oil and gas production business.

Net earnings came in at 60.76 billion yuan ($9.5 billion)during the January-September period, the company said.

According to a Reuters calculation based on company filings, net income for the third quarter was about 20.8 billion yuan, beating analysts' average estimate of 20.66 billion yuan. But the latest quarterly figure is about 56% down from the year earlier's 47.37 billion yuan, which was lifted in part by its transfer of pipeline assets to the country's energy infrastructure group PipeChina.

Sinopec said its domestic fuel sales rose 2.7% on the year to 166.6 million tonnes during the first nine months, reflecting an extended recovery of China's economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crude throughput during the period was up 9.3% over a year earlier at 190.7 million tonnes, or about 5.1 million barrels per day. That slowed from the nearly 14% yearly growth in the first half of this year, owing to government controls over national refinery output to curb excess refined fuel supplies and cut emissions.

Its crude oil output was down 0.9% year-on-year at 209 million barrels. Natural gas, however, surged nearly 14%. Capital expenditure between January and September was 89.7 billion yuan, about 54% of its planned investment for 2021.

Sinopec also said it had invested 9.9 billion yuan in its sales department, mainly for building oil and gas stations, and in integrated energy service stations, which offer petrol, gas, hydrogen and power.

The firm has said it aims to become the country's largest hydrogen company, leveraging its hydrogen production capability and vast retail network for transportation fuels. It said in August it plans to spend 30 billion yuan on hydrogen energy by 2025, as it pivots to producing natural gas and hydrogen as part of becoming a carbon-neutral energy provider by 2050.