9 Aug 2010 14:08

Gov't to lease oil storage space from private enterprises - association executive

Shanghai. August 9. INTERFAX-CHINA - China is likely to begin leasing more storage space at private oil depots to expand its national reserve, an oil association executive told Interfax on August 9.

Zhao Youshan, head of the Commercial Petroleum Flow Committee of China, proposed that the central government make use of the nearly 36 million tons of storage space from idle private oil depots to increase the national reserve.

In May of this year, China's National Oil Reserve Center announced that it would begin leasing storage space from six private depots. Three of these depots, which have a total storage capacity of 1.8 million tons, are located in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, while the remaining three are in Yantai City, Shandong Province.

Zhao said that the government may lease from more private enterprises in the future.

-TW