Kuwait-China refinery helps oil cooperation

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Busairi said Sunday that the China-Kuwait joint oil refinery would help promote cooperation between the two countries in the oil sector.

The $9-billion project is one of the pillars of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC)'s expansion strategy for 2030, Al-Busairi said when meeting with Wang Tianpu, president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec.

During the meeting, Al-Busairi and Wang also reviewed the latest developments of the joint refinery that would be built in southern China's Guangdong province.

The project, expected to be completed in 2013, would have an oil refining capacity of 300,000 barrels per day and will also produce 1 million tons of ethylene per year.

The refinery is among China's largest joint ventures in the oil sector when put into operation.

Kuwait, the fourth largest exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has a strategy to increase its daily output to 4 million barrels in 2020 and retain the level till 2030.