Daily Times (Pakistan): Showa Shell to cut crude buying from Kuwait, UAE (ShellNews.net) 26 Feb 05

TOKYO: Japanese oil refiner Showa Shell Sekiyu KK said it would reduce crude oil purchase volumes from countries other than its top two suppliers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, from the next business year.

The Nihon Keizai business newspaper reported earlier on Friday that Showa Shell would reduce crude purchase volumes from such countries as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman to 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the current 240,000 bpd. Its total purchases amount to 550,000 bpd, the paper said.

A Showa Shell spokesman confirmed it would cut purchase volumes from suppliers other than Saudi Arabia and Iran. But he said the other suppliers’ volumes reported by the paper both current and planned levels were too large.

“We will increase Saudi purchases and keep the same relationship with Iran, so we have to reduce volumes from other producers,” the spokesman said. State-run oil firm Saudi Aramco plans to double its crude oil supplies to Showa Shell to 300,000 bpd for the next business year starting in April as it bought a roughly 10 percent stake in the refiner from Royal Dutch/Shell last year. —Reuters

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-2-2005_pg5_16