Saudi Arabia to join China Pakistan Economic Corridor project

Suggesting a major change in global oil flows, Saudi Arabia is expected to sign up to add billions of dollars of petrochemical infrastructure to the Chinese-built port of Gwadar in Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia is committing up to $8bn in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a transit route involving pipelines for China to take Middle Eastern oil from the Indian Ocean rather than going via the much longer route through the Malacca Strait.

“Saudi Arabia is the first country that we have invited to become a third partner in CPEC,” said Pakistani minister of information Fawad Chaudhry at a press conference in Islamabad. “Saudi Arabia is expected to bring massive direct investments to the project.”