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Page last updated at 09:01 GMT, Monday, 25 August 2008 10:01 UK
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Price controls hurt China refiner

Sinopec petrol station in Shanghai
Beijing raised petrol and diesel prices by 18% in late June.

Profits at top Chinese oil refiner Sinopec have plunged 77% as caps on fuel prices prevented the firm passing on record crude oil costs to consumers.

The state-run company said net profit in the first six months of the year totalled 8.26bn yuan ($1.2bn £0.7bn) down from 37.8bn yuan a year earlier.

China controls fuel prices to limit their impact on inflation in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Crude oil prices have surged more than 50% during the first half of this year.

They are now trading around $114 a barrel after peaking at $147 a barrel in July. At the turn of the year oil was trading at about $96 a barrel in New York.

Sinopec processed 84.3 million tons of crude in the first half of the year, up 6.7% from the same period of 2007.

Analysts say Sinopec is likely to face a tough time in the second half of this year even though Beijing raised gasoline and diesel prices by 18% in late June.

There are fears that Beijing may scrap a tax rebate on crude imports.

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