Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008
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DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Kuwait is not considering diverting its oil tankers to the Cape of Good Hope, Kuwait's state news agency, Kuna reports Wednesday, citing Kuwait Petroleum Corp.'s chairman, Saad Al Shuwaib.
"80% of Kuwait's oil tankers head to Asia but they are far from the Gulf of Aden. Crude is also carried by leased non-Kuwaiti vessels or via Kuwaiti tankers under the international military protection" Al Shuwaib said.
Al Shuwaib's comments come as negotiations continue between Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco and Somali pirates who seized Sirius Star, a Saudi oil supertanker, on November 15th.
A surge in piracy in the Middle East has raised concern over the past couple of month, with analysts saying that a number of the world's cargo fleet operators have begun to send some vessels via the Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.
"The Gulf water is protected by forces of countries overlooking the Gulf...Pirates will unlikely sneak into these zones," he said.
GCC foreign ministers who met in Oman Tuesday agreed to join the global fight against piracy.
Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal denounced piracy as "a demon that we must eradicate in the same way as terrorism."
Agency Web site: www.kuna.net.kw
-By Reem Shamseddine, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 374 8044 Reem.Shamseddine@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
26-11-08 1349GMT
