March 24, 2002	Sunday	Muharram 9, 1423

MUSCAT, March 23: Oman signed a one-year agreement on Saturday to supply crude oil to China’s state-run Unipec and Sinochem as from July 2002.

Under the agreement, the Chinese traders together will buy a total of 34,000 barrels a day of Omani crude oil. Officials did not specify how much the deal was worth.

“China has shown interest in buying more oil than the quantity signed on Saturday and we are looking at the oil availability to see what we can offer in the future,” Salim bin Mohammed Shaaban, Oman’s Oil Ministry under-secretary, told reporters at the signing ceremony in Muscat.

Oman, an independent oil producer, has reduced its output by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) as from January in collaboration with Opec to boost crude oil prices.

Omani Oil Minister Mohammed al-Rumhy has said enforcement of its cut left Oman pumping 915,000 bpd of crude oil and condensates during February and exporting roughly 830,000 bpd.

According to official statistics, China bought 53.6 million barrels of oil from Oman in 2001, making it the third biggest importer of the sultanate’s crude after Japan and South Korea.—Reuters