KPI to proceed with Guangdong refinery project

State-run Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and Chinese provincial officials have agreed to proceed to the engineering design phase of a proposed 260,000-300,000 barrel per day refinery in Guangdong province, but have dropped Shell as a potential partner and are talking to BP instead, the Kuwait news agency KUNA reported. It said the developments emerged from meetings held in the provincial capital of Quangzhou by KPI Vice President Mohammed Rashed Jassem, who “conveyed the concerns of the Kuwaiti government and Kuwait Petroleum Corp., KPI’s parent company, over the slow development of the refinery and petrochemicals plant project. The National Reform and Development Commission in July approved the greenfield refinery project to be built jointly by KPC and state-owned Sinopec Corp. Sinopec has formed a joint venture with the KPI-led consortium that also includes Kuwait Petrochemicals Company and Dow Chemical of the U.S. (September 25, 2007)