News in Brief

@H= Tehran Times Economic Desk
---------------- Indonesian refinery project in Iran
Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina is looking for additional crude oil supplies for a 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery it plans to build jointly with Iran, a company official told “The Jakarta Post”.
Pertamina and the Iranian government have been negotiating to build a $550 million refinery in Bojonegara, Banten, with a total capacity of 300,000 barrels of refined products per day.
--------------------- Saudi Arabia to raise oil exports to China 9%
Saudi Aramco plans to increase oil exports to China by at least 9 percent this year to meet rising demand from refiners in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, said two company officials.
Shipments to China may climb to more than 26 million metric tons of crude this year, according to the officials from Saudi Aramco, who asked not to be identified because of company policy. Saudi Arabia’s only crude exporter increased oil exports to China by 7.6 percent last year to 23.87 million tons.
--------------------- Kuwait seeks stake in China oil storage
Kuwait aims to invest in a major oil storage being built by China’s top jet fuel firm, as the Middle East producer worked on building a joint-venture refinery to gain a foothold in the world’s second-largest oil market, officials said.
China National Aviation Fuel Holdings (CNAF), the country’s near-monopoly aviation fuel distributor, is expected to complete the 1.9 million barrel storage base for clean oil products in southern Guangdong province by mid-2009, estimated to cost $40 million. Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) is interested in taking a stake in the venture.
---------------- OPEC adding to holdings of U.S. debt thrice faster than foreign investors
U.S. Treasury Department data shows that OPEC members increased their holdings of treasuries 12% this year through July to $123.8 billion. This is three times faster than other foreign investors.
OPEC’s members, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Venezuela, bought a net $13.6 billion of treasuries this year through July, according to the U.S. government. They have purchased $45.6 billion more than they have sold since the end of 2005, WSJ reported.