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| An undated file photo shows the construction
site of the
Zhenhai oil reserve |
China will start filling its first strategic
petroleum reserve this year, China Central Television (CCTV) said Thursday
amid efforts to ensure energy supplies for the country's booming
economy.
Plans call for China to build groups of storage tanks at four locations.
The first 16-tank facility to be filled is in the city of Zhenhai in
the eastern province of Zhejiang, south of Shanghai, CCTV said, citing
Wang Mingji, vice chairman of state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical
Corp.
The reserve is meant to cushion China against possible
interruptions of foreign supplies. Previous reports said Beijing plans to
stockpile up to 100 million barrels of petroleum, or the equivalent of
almost a month's national consumption.
The United States operates a similar reserve.
China's reserve is to be overseen by a government commission created
this year to coordinate energy policy and supervise state-owned oil
companies and other resources.
China supplied its own energy needs for decades from domestic oil
fields, but became a net petroleum importer in the 1990s. Driven by a
booming economy, it has quickly risen to become the world's second-biggest
oil importer, after Japan.
Plans call for three other reserve facilities in Daishan in Zhejiang,
Huangdao in Shandong province southeast of Beijing and in Xingang in
Liaoning province in the northeast.
(China Daily) | 
Updated: 2005-06-24 17:00
