LOC09:47
06:47 GMT
TOKYO, Feb 25 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's crude oil exports to China rose 20.7
percent in January from the previous month to 648,000 tons, equivalent to
around 153,000 barrels per day (bpd), official data showed.
Kuwait provided 3.0 percent of China's total crude oil imports, compared to
a 4.4 percent share in the same month of 2010 and 2.6 percent in December,
according to figures released by the Chinese General Administration of
Customs. On a year-ago basis, Kuwait's shipments to the world's biggest energy
market declined 13.5 percent.
China's overall imports of crude oil grew 27.4 percent in January on the
year to 5.16 million bpd. Saudi Arabia remained China's top supplier with its
shipments rising 44.8 percent from a year earlier to 996,000 bpd, followed by
Angola with 593,000 bpd, down 25.4 percent. Iran became third, with imports
from the country surging 102.1 percent to 519,000 bpd.
The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has been proactively
penetrating to "sustainable, stable, growing" new markets, with putting focus
on China and India, KPC's Managing Director of International Marketing
Abdullatif Al-Houti told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) last month during his Asian
tour.
Through concerted efforts by international marketing and KPC Beijing
Representative Office, which was established in 2005, Chinese refiners have
significantly increased crude purchase from Kuwait in the past few years.
Al-Houti also said KPC attaches importance to a joint refinery project between
its subsidiary Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and Asia's top refiner
Sinopec to build a 300,000 bpd refinery, which still awaits Chinese government
final approval. Once the envisaged refinery goes online in the southern
province of Guangdong, Chinese-bound shipments may hit 400,000-500,000 bpd, he
said. (end)
mk.mt
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