September 20, 2011 [Reuters] - China Petrochemical Corp, parent of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), has readied 1.2 million cubic metres or nearly 7.6 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity in the eastern province of Shandong, a report on a company website said on Tuesday.
An engineering unit of China Petrochemical Corp, also known as Sinopec Group, delivered the facility on Sept. 16, with oil to start to flowing into the tanks in a trial run on Sept. 25, two months ahead of schedule, according to www.sinopecnews.com.cn.
The facility is part of 3.2 million cubic metres or 20 million barrels of commercial crude storage in the port city of Rizhao, scheduled to be fully ready for use by year-end.
Sinopec, Asia’s top refiner, buys more than 70 percent of the crude oil it processes every year from the international market because of limited domestic crude production.
China, the world’s No.2 oil consumer and crude buyer, has accelerated setting up an oil reserve system, combining the efforts of the central government, state oil giants, and the private sector.
