One of China's largest crude oil reserve bases is set to come onstream in Northern Hebei Province.
China Petrochemical Corp, also known as Sinopec Corp, has started operations at China's third-largest crude oil reserve base. Construction on the plant began last May and has cost the top Asian refiner 2.62 billion yuan ($415.3 million) to build. The complex boasts a storage capacity of 3.2 million cubic metres and contains 32 crude oil tanks, each with a volume of 100,000 cubic metres - equivalent to about 20 million barrels.
The base is situated in the Caofeidian industrial zone in China's Northern Hebei Province and is owned by Sinopec Group, parent of Sinopec Corp. Caofeidian is an island off the coast of Tangshan, in the resource-rich Bohai Bay area. The new facilities will add to Sinopec's existing 5 million barrel capacity facility in the nearby area.
Both Sinopec and state-owned oil giant PetroChina have been increasing crude reserves in response to Beijing's call to boost supply security. Dushanzi Petrochemical Corp, a subsidiary of PetroChina, has recently completed a 19 million barrel strategic reserve in Xinjiang province and, in Lanzhou in neighbouring Gansu province, a facility which can hold 19 million barrels of strategic reserves and 6.3 million barrels of commercial reserves has also become operational.