Sunday, April 27, 2008

Saudi Aramco to Double Crude Supply to China By 2010 (Update1)

Saudi Aramco to Double Crude Supply to China By 2010 (Update1)

By Winnie Zhu

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest state oil company, aims to double its crude oil supply to China by 2010 from about 500,000 barrels a day last year, an official from unit Saudi Petroleum Ltd. said.

Aramco has signed an agreement with China Petrochemical Corp., the nation's biggest refiner, to sell 1 million barrels of crude a day by 2010, Mohammed al-Madi, a vice president of Saudi Petroleum, said today at a conference in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Sichuan province.

Saudi Arabia accounted for 8.2 million metric tons, equivalent to 650,000 barrels a day, or 18 percent, of China's crude imports of 45.5 million tons in the first quarter, according to data from Beijing-based Customs General Administration April 22.

The Middle Eastern kingdom will increase its output capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said April 22. The world's top oil exporter produced 9.2 million barrels a day in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The country's new Khursaniyah field on the east coast has started and will eventually pump 500,000 barrels a day, Aramco Chief Executive Officer Abdallah Jum'ah said this month.

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