Hijjah 03, 1431, Nov 09, 2010, SPA -- Kuwaiti Minister of Oil and Information Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah and Asia's top refiner Sinopec Chairman Su Shulin on Tuesday vowed to expedite joint effort on the planned refinery and petrochemical project, which awaits the Chinese government's final approval. During their meeting at Sinopec's headquarters in Beijing, Sheikh Ahmad conveyed Kuwait's continued support to his country's first-ever refinery project in China, which is jointly owned by state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Sinopec. "My current visit to China is mainly to push forward our joint venture," Sheikh Ahmad told Su, stressing the need for speeding up procedural matters to swiftly win the final nod for constructing the plant from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning agency. He also sought Su's initiative and a "more spontaneous approach" to the issue. The planned project includes a 15 million-ton-a-year (300,000 barrels per day bpd) refinery, a One million-ton-a-year ethylene plant and related utilities, as well as support facilities such as a crude jetty, product oil and chemical jetties, a bulk jetty, and oil product pipelines to an initial station, KUNA reported. The Kuwaiti minister, who arrived in China on Monday for an official visit, will hold talks with Vice Premier Li Keqiang later this week, before flying to Guangzhou.
