SHANGHAI: Asenior Kuwaiti oil official affirmed yesterday that his country plans toincrease its crude oil exports to China to more than 600,000 barrels per day by2019. Kuwait's volume of liquefied natural gas exports to China hassignificantly increased to over two millions tons annually, making up nearly 40percent of its total exports, Deputy Managing Director of Kuwait PetroleumCorporation's (KPC) International Marketing Sheikh Khaled Al-Sabah said. SheikhKhaled Al-Sabah made his remarks while addressing participants of the secondedition of China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.
Kuwait considersChina as one of its main strategic partners, he affirmed, noting KPC'scooperation relationship and partnership with China Petrochemical Corporation(Sinopec Group), particularly in the energy field. Kuwait's oil exports havegrown significantly thanks to its partnerships with China, notably SinopecGroup, especially since KPC opened its representation office in Beijing in2005, Sheikh Khaled noted, adding such mutual understanding and support was thekey for this partnership's success. The KPC-Sinopec cooperation includesoil-manufacturing sectors such as oil extraction and refinery, in addition toexporting oil derivatives, marketing, business development, investment, andjoint operations, said the Kuwaiti official.
TheKuwaiti-Chinese oil cooperation is very "promising" and wouldcontribute to the two countries' prosperity for long years to come, he noted,affirming his country seeks to maintain the stability of international oilmarkets. Kuwait aspires to faster global economic growth as it continues,through KPC, to supply the international markets, particularly the Chineseones, with crude oil and its various related-products, said Sheikh KhaledAl-Sabah. As part of its strategy, the Kuwaiti corporation seeks to increaseits production capacity of crude oil to more than four million barrels per day,as well as 2.5 billion cubic meters of LNG by 2040, he noted.
Furthermore,Sheikh Khaled Al-Sabah affirmed KPC's strive to reach a total refinery capacityof crude oil to about 1.4 million barrels per day by 2021, in addition toinvestment on an international level to secure best returns for Kuwaiti oil. OnKPC's current oil projects, he mentioned clean fuel as one, in addition todevelopment and integration of local refineries in order to secure productionof high-quality products that match international environmental criteria.
Moreover, KPCwould construct an LNG station with a total capacity of nearly three billionBritish thermal units per day in order to maintain Kuwait's LNG needs andachieve better environmental criteria on the local level. Sheikh KhaledAl-Sabah also mentioned that KPC plans to construct a new refinery, called ZourRefinery, which has been designed in accordance to international standards andin a total major capacity of nearly 615,000 barrels per day to cover Kuwait'senergy needs.
Highest level
Meanwhile,Kuwait's Ambassador to China Sameh Hayat affirmed Friday that"prosperous" bilateral relations with China are at the highest oflevels. Acting upon wise directions of both leaderships, and stemming of amutual political desire, the two countries succeeded in establishing acomprehensive strategic partnership, Hayat said while addressing participantsof the second edition of the International Financial Cooperation Forum 2019 inShanghai.
Kuwait'sparticipation this year reflects its interest to interact with such asignificant financial event in one of China's - and the world's - leadingeconomic cities, said the Kuwaiti envoy. It also embodies the fruitful outcomesof His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's visit toChina last July, which propelled the relationship between the two countries tohigher strategic prospects, noted Hayat. Shanghai is also at the forefront ofthe 'Belt and Road Initiative,' launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, headded, noting that Kuwait was the first supporter and signatory on itscooperation pact with the Chinese government.
Hayat stressedthe importance of organizing events of such a caliber more periodically andcontinually as the Shanghai Forum is considered one of the important economicmeetings in the world. His Highness the Amir's recent visit to China was one ofthe most successful throughout various junctures of the two countries historicrelationship, as it achieved its desired objectives, he affirmed.
The Belt and RoadInitiative is to contribute to global economic prosperity, he said, notingKuwait would be one of its launching pads due for its distinctive geographiclocation in north of the Arabian Gulf. Hayat also said the initiative matchesKuwait government's strategic vision in making the country a safe sea route, amajor commercial hub, and a core of a network of steel lines starting fromChina and ending in Jerusalem through Central Asia and other countries. - KUNA