China Aviation Fuel Firm, Kuwait Petroleum To Jointly Produce Fuel

China National Aviation Fuel Group Corp established formed an alliance with Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. amid surging demand as more Chinese travel.

The companies signed agreements covering aviation fuel and European market exchanges in London on Sept. 3, the Beijing-based parent of China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp. said in a statement on its Web site. It gave no further details.

China became the world's biggest aviation market after the U.S. in 2005 as economic growth spurred air travel and airlines added to their fleets. The domestic market expanded by almost a fifth in the first half of this year, prompting China National Aviation to seek more suppliers.

"The agreement is an important measure to carry out the company's resource strategy,'' the fuel supplier said. Spokesman Bian Hui couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The jet fuel distributor said in April it agreed to buy supplies from OAO Rosneft, Russia's second-largest oil producer. China National Aviation has 15 jet fuel depots in the country, with storage capacity of 1.86 million cubic meters, according to its Web site.

Unit China Aviation Oil has more than doubled in Singapore trading this year, beating the benchmark Straits Times Index's 22 percent gain by about six times.