BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Sinopec posted a 2.6% rise in net profit for the first half of the year, it said on Sunday, as rising oil prices boosted income.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp as Sinopec is officially known, reported on Sunday a net income of 37.1 billion yuan ($5.21 billion) for January to June, according to a filing with the Shanghai stock exchange.

Sinopec, the world's largest oil refiner by capacity, saw its sales fall 1.1% to 1.58 trillion yuan.

Meanwhile, production of ethylene, a key building block for petrochemicals, fell 5.5% during the first half.

Capital expenditure was 55.9 billion yuan for the period.

Crude oil output rose 0.6% on the year to 140.53 million barrels, Sinopec previously reported, while natural gas production rose 6% to 700.57 billion cubic feet.

The company processed 126.69 million metric tons of crude oil, about 5.08 million barrels per day (bpd), up 0.1% from the same period last year, it said in a stock market filing in July.

That compared with 1.7% growth in the first quarter. The slowdown was driven by higher crude prices and tepid domestic fuel demand.

($1 = 7.1244 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(This story has been corrected to say that Sinopec H1 profit rose 2.6%, not 2.7% and removes the reference to figures based on Chinese standards)

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