Bakhit al-Rashidi, CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) – the overseas downstream arm of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) – tells MEES that he is optimistic that a planned 300,000 b/d joint venture refining and petrochemical project in Zhanjiang on China’s southern coast will move forward with Kuwaiti participation. Despite recent reports that China plans to scale back its petrochemicals ambitions, Mr Rashidi says that Sinopec has agreed to build an integrated petrochemicals plant alongside the refinery, a decision that was key in securing continued interest from KPI.
“The Chinese agreed to the petrochemical plan and we are now proceeding with that project. But we did not reach the final deal yet,” Mr Rashidi said on the sidelines of the Petrotech Expo in Bahrain this week. “The project has completed the FEED stage, but there is no agreement between us and the Chinese so far.” (CONTINUED - 395 WORDS)
