A shortage of storage may force China to curb purchases of crude oil for its strategic reserves, according to a high-ranking representative of the state oil company Sinopec.
The world’s largest oil importer bought a record amount of crude at the end of last year, as oil prices plunged. But the country has been unable to fully take advantage of low international crude prices to build strategic reserves because of insufficient storage capacity.
Chen Bo, president of Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese state oil company Sinopec, told an oil industry conference on Wednesday that Chinese import demand this year would likely stay flat or rise only slightly as available storage is close to full.