Tokyo. China has completed the first phase of the national strategic oil reserve project with the average cost of USD 58 per barrel in 2009, the state-run China Daily reported Monday.
The NEA is the nation's top level administration oversees the energy sector.
The amount is equivalent to 42 percent of China's crude oil import in 2008, the daily said.
China is the world's second-biggest oil importer after the US. It imported record 21.3 million tons (5.03 million bpd) last December and imports in 2009 hit 204 million tons (4.10 million bpd), customs data showed.
Imported crude oil accounted for 52 percent of China's total oil consumption last year, while the nation produced about 190 million tons (3.82 million bpd) of oil in 2009, maintaining downward trend, the daily said.
China took advantage of the slowing energy demand on the global market caused by the financial crisis to implement the "go out" energy strategy, Zhang said.
China's crude oil pipeline project was settled after over 10 years of negotiation, Zhang added.
The pipeline construction has started in both Russia and China and was scheduled to be operational by the end of this year, with an annual throughput of 15 million tons (301,000 bpd), the report added.
As its energy demand grows, China has made a multi-phase plan to build a number of oil reserves. Its current reserves are less than the level suggested by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which recommends its member countries keep a stockpile level of 90 days of net oil imports.
According the country's long-term national oil reserve plan, China will build an oil stockpile that is equivalent to 100 days of its net imports by 2020.
Reported by Cristina Gallardo, write to cristina.gallardo@ordons.com
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