Kuwait seeks to strengthen oil ties with China

Kuwait hopes the next few months will see a strengthening of its partnership with China's oil industry. That was the message from leading Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) official Jamal Al-Nouri at the opening of the company's Beijing office.
"We are talking with every one of China's big oil companies, including Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp), on further co-operation, and this coming together is only a matter of months," added Al-Nouri, managing director of KPC's international marketing department.

The Middle East corporation also hopes to participate in the long-term development of China's oil industry by establishing refining, petrochemical and infrastructure joint ventures.
Al-Nouri said he hoped the firm's permanent presence in the Chinese capital will help it strike "long-term oil supply contracts with China and establish joint ventures."

China's second-largest oil producer Sinopec is already in talks with Kuwait over setting up more projects in both the upstream and downstream oil sectors, a deputy manager at the company's crude oil department said.
The firm has imported crude oil from Kuwait since 1998 under a long-term supply agreement.