Kuwait: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) said on Friday the oil tanker Ashley Lady has docked at Al-Azour Refinery.

The vessel is supposed to carry the first shipment of 55,000 tons of naphtha, a highly demanded petrochemical byproduct, for exporting to KPC's customers, KIPIC's Spokesman Abdullah Al-Ajmi said in a statement to KUNA.

Al-Ajmi commended this as another historic accomplishment in days' time, saying that the commercial exporting of Al-Azour Refinery has already commenced only to boost Kuwait's high-quality byproduct output.

For his part, KPC's Managing Director for Global Marketing Sheikh Khaled Al-Sabah said this significant event has reflected a strategic quantum leap and introduced Kuwait as a credible world energy partner.

He, further, appreciated the high level of cooperation between the KPC and KIPIC, underlining that it is necessary for national oil companies to have constructive cooperation and continued coordination, thus increasing the country's major economic accomplishments. The Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) announced on Sunday the launching of commercial operations of the first phase at Al-Zour Refinery project.

The operation is an important historic event and considered a mainstay of the country's development plan. It provides fuel of high quality and environmental standards to meet the local demand for energy, as it limits emissions of gases polluting the environment and improves air quality.