Sinopec chairman launches overhaul to revive world's largest refiner

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Sinopec Chairman Hou Qijun has launched a sweeping overhaul of the world's largest oil refiner as it confronts falling fuel demand, petrochemical overcapacity, and oil-supply disruptions from the Iran war. Appointed a year ago, Hou has reorganized the company into four profit centers covering oil, gas and new energy, refining and chemicals, finance and strategic new business, and global trading with marketing, and he outlined the plan in unusually blunt language in a July SASAC magazine article. Sinopec reported a 19% rise in first-half 2026 net profit on Sunday, but its fuel sales have dropped to 2017 levels and it faces an uphill battle to maintain domestic market share. Hou said at an earnings briefing that half of new cars no longer need fuel, so the company must shift to chemical materials and new energy, and it plans to allocate about 20% of capital spending, or more than 30 billion yuan a year, to new energy and new materials from 2026 to 2030. He also targeted completion of more than 30 projects by 2030, including shale oil, sustainable aviation fuel, and refining cost cuts, while facing fierce competition from Wanhua Chemical and Satellite Chemical in higher-value petrochemicals.

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