BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit three key Middle Eastern oil and gas suppliers -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar -- starting at the weekend and attend an international meeting on energy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
His trip, starting on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, comes amid mounting tension over Iran, which faces tightening Western sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme. China has already cut its oil imports from Iran in January and February in a dispute over contract terms, and has been looking for alternative supplies.
The announcement from the ministry (www.mfa.gov.cn) said Wen will meet leaders from the three countries to "thoroughly exchange views on developing bilateral relations and on international and regional issues of common concern."
Wen will also attend the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
Iran will no doubt be among the issues that Wen discusses with his hosts.
The Chinese announcement did not mention any possible energy or investment deals during Wen’s six-day Middle East trip.
But on Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant, Saudi Aramco , said it will sign a final deal next week to build a 400,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery in Yanbu with China’s Sinopec Group.
Aramco said the formal signing would take place on Jan. 14 in Dhahran, the site of the state company’s headquarters.
Under the initial agreement, Aramco will hold a 62.5 percent stake in the joint venture formed to develop the project, and Sinopec will own the rest. Sinopec is the parent of top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp .
Construction of the refinery, located on the Red Sea, is now under way and was to have been carried out by U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips and Aramco. But Conoco pulled out of the plans in 2010.
Saudi Arabia is already China’s top international source of crude oil. In the first 11 months of 2011, it supplied China with 45.5 tonnes of crude, a rise of 12.9 percent over the same period in 2010. Angola and Iran were the second and third biggest suppliers.
Qatar is a major supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China, and in the first 11 months of 2011 it shipped 1.8 million tonnes of LNG to China, a rise of 75.9 percent over the same period in 2010.
