China to Increase Its Oil Stockpiling Significantly

摘要

China hopes to have 12 million tons of strategic oil reserves by the end of 2010, said Chen Deming, deputy director of NDRC. Current strategic oil reserves are recorded at between two and three million tons. The NDRC hopes to quadruple this number by the end of 2010. Chen made those remarks at the 8th US-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum which was held September 9-11 this year in San Francisco, California, the United States.rnHe also suggested planned oil reserves in 2010 will equal one month of China's net import of crude oil, and that number will be raised further, to an equivalent of three months of imports, by 2020, in conformity with recommendations of the International Energy Agency (IEA). China is not currently a member of IEA. Hu Weiping, principal of NDRC's oil and natural gas department, said China's oil reserve is for any unexpected energy emergencies and not for manipulating market oil prices, in answer to the international community's doubts about the country's oil reserve policies.