China plans to build four levels of crude oil reserves made up of two parts -
the government reserve and enterprise storage - according to a source with the
nation's largest oil company.
"The government reserve will be at two
levels, a strategic crude oil reserve base by the central government, and an oil
reserve base by local governments," an official with PetroChina, who declined to
be named, said.
"The enterprise storage will also be at two levels,
commercial oil reserve by the largest oil companies PetroChina, Sinopec and
CNOOC, and oil storage by the medium and small ones," he said.
The
strategic oil reserve base by the central government and the oil reserve by the
nation's leading oil companies are under way, and the other two levels are still
in the preliminary stage, the official said.
The country also plans to
formulate some regulations for oil reserves, he said.
"A sound oil
reserve system will help ensure the nation's energy security, in case there is
an interruption in supplies or a hike in oil prices," Han Xiaoping, chief
information officer of China5e.com, said.
In some regions that are
hungry for energy such as South China's Guangdong Province, the local government
has started to plan for oil reserves, Han said.
China is now the world's
third largest oil importer after the United States and Japan and the world's
second largest oil consumer after the US. In the first half of this year imports
of crude oil rose 11.2 percent to 81.5 million tons, according to the General
Administration of Customs (GAC).
Last year, China imported 145 million
tons of crude oil and 36.4 million tons of refined oil, spending $15.3 billion
more than the year before because of soaring oil prices in the global market,
the GAC said.
Analysts said China will use up to 350 million tons of oil
this year, 10 million tons more than last year.
Beginning in 2004, China
started to build its strategic crude oil reserve bases in three provinces. The
first batch consisted of four bases, two in Zhejiang, one in Shandong, and the
other in Liaoning.
Last month, PetroChina started to build a commercial
crude oil reserve base in Liaoning. It plans to build another in the Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region.
Other top oil companies, such as Sinopec and
Sinochem, have also started to build bases, a PetroChina official said.
(China Daily 07/19/2007 page 3)
（英语点津 Linda 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from
Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong
and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, producing current affairs shows and
documentaries.
