KUWAIT, Aug 16: A planned refinery joint venture in southern China between state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) and Sinopec Corp is expected to cost up to $4bn above initial estimates, state news agency KUNA cited KPC’s head as saying.

The Kuwait-Chinese refinery and petrochemical project is expected to cost between $8 billion to $9bn, Saad al-Shuwaib, Chief Executive of KPC told Chinese magazine Finance and Economy, KUNA reported late on Friday.

The project, which had been estimated to have a $5 billion price tag, got the approval of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Shuwaib told the magazine.

KPC and Sinopec, Asia’s top refiner, received preliminary government approval for the Guangdong plant in 2006, but negotiations for major projects in the sensitive energy sector can sometimes drag on for years.—Reuters