JAPAN

Project With Saudis Planned: Saudi Arabia and Japan have agreed to set up a joint venture to build refineries in both countries, Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry Kozo Watanabe announced. The refining agreement, which has been rumored for months, was finalized during discussions between Watanabe and Oil Minister Hisham Nazer. Watanabe said that in his talks with Nazer, and in a meeting with Deputy Premier Prince Sultan bin Abdel-Aziz, he also asked that the Japanese oil concession in the so-called Divided Zone be extended beyond its current expiration in the year 2000. The zone is an area straddling the borders of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia containing oil fields that the two countries exploit jointly.