BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese group Sinopec increased its net profit by 2.6 percent in the first half of the year, the company said on Sunday. The rise in oil prices led to higher earnings.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, as Sinopec is officially called, reported on Sunday a net profit of 37.1 billion yuan (5.21 billion dollars) for the period January to June, according to a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

At Sinopec, the world’s largest oil refinery by capacity, sales fell 1.1 percent to 1.58 trillion yuan.

Meanwhile, production of ethylene, an important component of the petrochemical industry, fell by 5.5 percent in the first half of the year.

Capital expenditure during this period amounted to 55.9 billion yuan.

As Sinopec previously reported, crude oil production rose 0.6 percent year-on-year to 140.53 million barrels, while natural gas production increased 6 percent to 700.57 billion cubic feet.

The company processed 126.69 million tonnes of crude oil, about 5.08 million barrels per day (bpd), an increase of 0.1 percent over the same period last year, it said in a stock exchange announcement in July.

Growth in the first quarter was 1.7 percent. The decline was due to higher crude oil prices and weak domestic demand for fuels.

(1 US dollar = 7.1244 Chinese renminbi yuan)

(This article has been corrected to say that Sinopec’s profit rose 2.6% in the first half, not 2.7%. It also removed a reference to figures based on Chinese standards.)

(Reporting by Colleen Howe and the Beijing newsroom; editing by Lincoln Feast.)