China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) is planning to build a US$9 billion refining and petrochemical plant together with Kuwait Petroleum Corp and a third party in Guangdong province, Bloomberg reported. Zhang Guobao, the head of China’s National Energy Administration, said the third company would be either BP or Royal Dutch Shell. The announcement of the deal during a visit to Beijing by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah comes a month after Sinopec signed a US$402 million deal with Kuwait to build five oil rigs over five years. Kuwait is hoping to be among the top five suppliers of oil to China within two to three years.