Sinopec released its third quarter report for 2023. In the first three quarters, the company gave full play to its integration advantages, actively responded to market changes, carried out in-depth optimization of the entire industry chain, increased production and marketing coordination, and achieved high-quality operating results. According to International Financial Reporting Standards, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the company in the first three quarters was RMB 54.06 billion, of which RMB 17.938 billion was in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 37.7%. In order to safeguard the company's value and shareholders' rights, it continues to carry out share repurchases at home and abroad. As of October 26, 2023, the total amount paid by the company to repurchase A shares was RMB 474 million, and the total amount paid to repurchase H shares was RMB 474 million. It is HK$288 million, and all the repurchased shares will be cancelled.
In the upstream business, we strengthened high-quality exploration and profitable development, achieved new results by increasing reserves, stabilizing oil, increasing gas and reducing costs. A number of new oil and gas discoveries and major breakthroughs have been made in the Tarim Basin, Junggar Basin and other areas. The construction of the Jiyang Shale Oil National Demonstration Zone has been effectively promoted, the refined development of old oil fields has been deepened, and natural gas reserves and production have been vigorously implemented. In the first three quarters, the oil and gas equivalent production was 52.91 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, of which natural gas production was 28.1 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%.
In the refining business, we adhere to the coordinated optimization of production and marketing, increase the total processing volume, and maximize the benefits of the industrial chain. Dynamically strengthen resource coordination and reduce procurement costs. Closely follow the market and coordinate "oil conversion" and "oil to special", increase production of marketable products, and expand export scale. In the first three quarters, 194 million tons of crude oil were processed, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%, and 118 million tons of refined oil products were produced, a year-on-year increase of 14%.
The refined oil sales business has made every effort to expand the market and expand sales, and the quality and scale of operations have been further improved. Actively promote the development of charging and swapping business, expand hydrogen energy application scenarios, and transform into an integrated energy service provider for oil, gas, hydrogen and electricity services. In the first three quarters, the total sales volume of refined oil products was 181 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 19.1%, of which the total domestic sales volume of refined oil products was 143 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%.
The chemical business will strengthen structural adjustment, increase the production schedule of profitable products, and strengthen cost control. Closely integrate production, sales, research and application, increase the proportion of high value-added products, and explore domestic and overseas markets. In the first three quarters, ethylene production was 10.662 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%; the total chemical product sales volume was 63.43 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5%.
