Reply #17: China's Oil Imports Surge to Record High

[54anickel]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061012/china_oil_reserves.html?.v=1

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- China's oil imports surged to a record high 3.3 million barrels a day in September, the government reported Thursday, as the country recently began filling its newly built strategic oil reserves.

Preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs showed crude oil imports jumped 24 percent over the same month a year earlier to 13.5 million metric tons (15 million U.S. tons) in September.

That would be an all-time high for any month, beating the 13.2 million tons of crude oil China imported in January, said David Hurd, a Beijing-based oil and gas research analyst at Deutsche Bank.

China recently completed construction of a storage facility in Zhenhai, a city south of Shanghai, the first of four planned strategic oil reserves. Filling of those tanks began in August with a shipment of Russian crude from the Urals, state media reported earlier this week.

China is the world's second largest consumer after the United States and construction of a state-controlled crude oil reserve is viewed as a strategic priority. Until now, Chinese oil companies have held between 10-30 days of oil stocks, but the country as a whole has not kept emergency reserves.

Eventually, Beijing is expected to stockpile up to 100 million barrels of petroleum, or the equivalent of a month's national consumption. The U.S., Japan and other countries have similar reserves.

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