Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, said it’s in talks with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. to take a stake in the company’s Qingdao refinery.

“We have been in discussions for the Qingdao refinery for a long time, and we continue those discussions with Sinopec,” Aramco Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih told reporters in Rabigh, near the Saudi coastal town of Jeddah today, referring to the Chinese company. “We are not about to make a decision.”

Oil producers may partner in projects like refineries to find a confirmed outlet for their crude. Importers like China are seeking energy sources to feed economic growth.

Sinopec President Wang Tianpu announced the talks in Beijing on Nov. 3 and said the company may import at least 50 million tons of crude oil a year from Saudi Arabia. Qingdao is a 200,000-barrel-a-day facility in Shandong province.

Al-Falih said Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, remains committed to the Ras Tanura refinery complex and won’t delay its completion.

“We have not made a decision to delay the project,” he said. “We are in active studies and we have committed $1.2 billion to do the engineering” studies to determine the final cost of the project.

Ras Tanura, a venture with Dow Chemical Co., may produce 1.8 million tons a year of ethylene from naphtha and ethane at two plants in Ras Tanura on Saudi Arabia’s Persian Gulf coast.

Al-Falih was speaking at the inauguration of Rabigh Refining and Petrochemicals Co. complex. The facility is a joint venture with Sumitomo Chemical Co.

To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Dubai at gcarey8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 11:04 EST