The state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has signed a 117 million kuwait dinars (US$350 million) contract with China's top oil refiner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) to build five oil and gas rigs in Kuwait, KOC said on Sunday.

Sami Al-Rusheid, Chairman and Managing Director of KOC said in a statement that the contract is part of the company's strategy to reach a production level of four million barrels a day by 2020.

Al-Rusheid expressed hope that the deal can help for the establishment of a long-term and sturdy partnership with Sinopec.

Last week, Kuwait announced that its oil output capacity has increased to three million barrels a day. Currently it produces around 2.3 million barrels per day.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2009)