China’s Sinopec has reported a 6.89% drop in its net profit for 2022 to 66.3 billion yuan (US$9.5 billion) — despite a 1046.6% increase in revenues from its exploration and production operations to 53.7 billion yuan.

The company’s exploration and production operations produced around 35.32 million tonnes (260 million barrels) of crude oil and 35.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2022, both increasing by 4.1% against the previous year.

However, with its primarily focus being on downstream operations, Sincopec said that high energy prices coupled with Covid-19 lockdowns last year seriously suppressed China’s demand for natural gas, oil products and petrochemicals, with the subsquent weak demand leaving its mark on the company’s revenues.