Crude throughput for 2022 seen at 240 mln t, 6 on yr
Plans first share buyback since IPO
Built in H1 83 hydrogen stations, 200 echarging stations
H1 Russian oil purchases made up a small share in total

SINGAPORE, Aug 29 Reuters China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, the world39;s biggest oil refiner by capacity, said on Monday that annual processing volumes for 2022 will fall by 6 from a year earlier after the country39;s COVID measures curtailed fuel demand at home.

The firm, known as Sinopec, reported on Sunday record net profit for the first half of 2022. On Monday, Chairman Ma Yongsheng told an earnings call that the company will buy back its Hong Kong and Shanghailisted shares for the first time since listing over 20 years ago, and will pick an appropriate timing to do so.

Sinopec executives on the call said the company plans to process 240 million tonnes of crude oil 4.8 million barrels per day for the whole of 2022. That would mean secondhalf volumes would be flat versus 120.76 million tonnes in the JanuaryJune period, which was 4.2 below the yearearlier level.

With the government39;s stimulus policy and the restoring of order in the fuel market, we expect China39;s fuel demand to return to a reasonable level of growth in the second half, said Vice President Ling Yiqun. He did not provide a specific forecast for Chinese fuel demand.

Sinopec achieved 40 billion yuan 5.78 billion of inventory gains in the first half owing to a surging oil market amid the…