October 19, 2020 [Reuters] – China’s Zhoushan archipelago aims to expand oil storage, including commercial and government reserves, by nearly two thirds over the next five years, a senior government official said on Friday.

 
Lying off the manufacturing hub of Zhejiang province, Zhoushan plans to add 18 million tonnes of oil tank farm by 2025, on top of 27.9 million tonnes currently, Zhoushan city Deputy Mayor Han Jun told an industry seminar.

The city, also the country’s top marine fuel hub, is among Beijing’s top picks to build free trade zones with a goal of becoming a regional trading and storage hub for oil, gas and other commodities.

It is where privately controlled mega refinery and petrochemical complex Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp is located and also adjacent to several large state-run refineries – in Zhenhai and Shanghai owned by refining giant Sinopec Corp.

Also a growing base for importing natural gas, Zhoushan aims to own a total of 32 million tonnes annually of receiving terminals for the super-chilled liquefied natural gas, said Han, without giving a timeline.

It would be tough for Zhoushan to reach its annual ship fuel sales target of 5 million tonnes for 2020, compared to 4.1 million tonnes in 2019, due to lacklustre demand as the coronavirus pandemic hits global trade, he added.

In the first nine months of 2020 Zhoushan increased bonded marine fuel sales by 18% to 3.26 million tonnes compared to the same period a year earlier.
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