The government and Kuwait have signed an oil stockpiling agreement on South Korea's storage of oil for Kuwait and the formation of a bilateral committee on oil collaboration.

The Commerce, Industry, and Energy Ministry on Monday said Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and Kuwaiti Prime Minister Al Sabah signed the deal Sunday.

Lee is on a five-nation tour of the Middle East.

In addition, the Korea National Oil Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with Kuwait's state-run oil company on international stockpiling of crude oil.

The MOU will allow Seoul to profit from renting out storage facilities and holding purchasing priority in oil crises.

South Korea began an oil stockpiling project with Norway in 1999, and is storing around 20 million barrels of petroleum products and oil from Norway and Algeria.

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