04-12-09 China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the nation's largest oil refiner, said its operations face risks and uncertainties next year because of volatile global crude prices and rising domestic chemical capacity.
Both the oil products and chemical businesses will face "fierce" competition and the first quarter of next year will be "arduous," according to parent China Petrochemical Corp.

The third quarter profit of Sinopec, as China Petroleum is known, missed analysts' estimates as rebounding crude oil prices squeezed margins from processing fuels. Sinopec supplies about 80 % of the nation's fuel. The company will increase oil exploration, maximize refining output and arrange oil imports and exports "flexibly" in the first quarter, President Wang Tianpu said.
The company's operations this year are overall better than anticipated.