China Likely To Announce Strategic Oil Stock Plan In 03
Wednesday January 22, 5:46 am ET
SHANGHAI -(Dow Jones)- China is likely to unveil later this year its plan to build a strategic oil reserve, a senior International Energy Agency official said Wednesday.
"Personally, I expect that they will announce (this year) a clear decision to create a strategic oil stock," Norio Ehara, head of the non-member countries division at IEA, said during an industry conference. He didn't speculate on how the stockpile would be built.
Ehara attended a workshop organized by the IEA in Beijing in December. The workshop included a forum on how China can build up national strategic oil reserves.
He, however, stressed that the final decision of whether to announce the plan this year rests with the State Development Planning Commission.
China's plan for strategic petroleum security, as outlined to the parliament by Premier Zhu Rongji in 2001, calls for China to build national oil reserves by 2005.
The government currently owns no strategic oil reserves, but has said it plans to build 8 million cubic meters of storge facilities by 2005, to ensure security of supply at times of natural disasters or war.
According to the IEA's World Energy Outlook report, China's net oil imports will rise to 9.8 million barrels a day by 2030, from less than 2 million b/d currently.
The proportion of China's oil demand supplied by imports will rise to 82% in 2030, from 34% in 2001.
biz.yahoo.com |
