China＇s Sinopec, Kuwait Petroleum Ink Cooperation Pact On Oil and Refining

China's state-owned Sinopec said Wednesday it has signed a pact with Kuwait Petroleum Co to enhance cooperation in the oil sector, including refining.

Sinopec, or China Petrochemical Corp., said the deal was signed Tuesday in Beijing in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah. 

Sinopec last said in its 2013 annual earnings statement issued late March that the 15 million mt/year Zhanjiang refinery would be delayed by a year to 2017. The plant will include an 800,000 mt/year ethylene unit and a 300,000 mt/year jetty.

The plan was for the $9 billion refinery to run on Kuwaiti crude. Since 2012 however, there has been little update on the equity sharing in the project and sources have previously said KPI's interest was waning and it was not clear if the company was still involved. Sinopec has also made no mention of KPI's involvement in its updates in the last two years. 

(platts.com Edited by Topco)