China government oil reserve full, shipper says

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SMF reports China has filled all four of its state-owned emergency oil reserve tanks to the brim and should now invest in oil tankers to add more to inventories while oil prices are low, a senior industry executive said in a rare acknowledgement of Beijing's secretive oil inventories.

Coupled with data last week showing a one-third rise in commercial crude oil stockpiles last year, the admission suggests that a large share of of China's oil import growth last year was pumped directly into storage, and could be relied upon quickly to soften any demand recovery or if prices should rise.

It also backs up speculation that the world's No. 2 energy user has been making good use of oil's $100 price fall to boost supplies while demand falters in an unfolding economic crisis. China Shipping (Group) Co President Li Shaode told Reuters that he had proposed that the government use some of its foreign exchange reserves on floating oil storage.

"The four onshore reserve bases have been fully filled, so we need to invest urgently in floating storage," Li said on the sidelines of the country's annual parliament.

Prepare yourself for the "New Economy"

Posted: 3/9/2009 3:12:12 PM by StockMarketFunding | with 0 comments

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China government oil reserve full, shipper says

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