Kuwait's crude oil exports to China up 6.3 %

Kuwait's crude oil exports to China rose 6.3 percent in August from a year earlier to 864,000 tons, equivalent to around 204,000 barrels per day (bpd), the latest government data showed. Kuwaiti share of China's crude oil imports was 4.1 percent last month, compared to 3.9 percent in the same month of last year and 2.7 percent in July, according to the General Administration of Customs. Kuwait's exports in the first eight months of 2011 to China totaled 6.08 million tons (184,000 bpd), down 8.6 percent from the same period last year. China's overall imports of crude in August edged up 0.7 percent year-on-year to 4.98 million bpd. Saudi Arabia remained China's top supplier although its shipments slightly falling 0.2 percent from a year earlier to 934, 000 bpd, followed by Angola with 716,000 bpd, down 24.2 percent. Iran became third with 464,000 bpd, up 0.9 percent. The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and China's top refiner Sinopec jointly plan to build a 300,000 bpd refinery and petrochemical complex in the south China's Guangdong Province. On Sunday, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Mohammad Al-Busairi discussed in Kuwait with the Chinese delegation the latest developments of the joint project, which will go online in 2014. The USD 9 billion oil refinery and petrochemical project is one of the pillars of KPC's expansion strategy for 2030, the minister underlined during the meeting.