Chinese oil and petrochemical companies' profit may have risen 21 percent last year as surging energy demand drove sales to a record, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said.

The companies, including China National Petroleum Corp and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, may report a combined profit of 530 billion yuan (US$72.7 billion) in 2007, the association of more than 200 petrochemical and oil producers said in a statement in its in-house newsletter yesterday.

(Shanghai Daily January 3, 2008)