The state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Pakistan State Oil have agreed to negotiate a memorandum of understanding to set up a feasibility study for a joint 120,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery in Pakistan, KPC says.

The move was announced following a visit to Islamabad in January by Kuwait's Oil Minister Abdel-Mohsen al-Mudej. KPC said that the matter has still to be approved by the boards of the two companies. The feasibility study will be carried out by an international consultancy firm, KPC says.

Al-Mudej went on to visit India where discussions to build similar refinery projects are further advanced.