Hebei submits proposal to build large oil depot  

The Caofeidian Industrial Park, located in northern China’s Hebei Province, has submitted a feasibility report to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for the construction of a large oil depot on the island of Caofeidian, domestic media reported. According to China Business, the Caofeidian Industrial Park is planning a crude oil depot with a storage capacity of 5.2 million tons, which will be constructed by China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group). Wang Wenzhong, head of the Caofeidian Investment Promotion Bureau, said in the report that the Caofeidian oil depot will almost certainly be used in the second phase of China’s national strategic oil reserve project. China started to build its national strategic oil reserve in 2004, the first stage of which consists of four depots with a total storage capacity of 14 million tons. The government has yet to officially announce the location of the depots to be used in the second phase of its national strategic oil reserve plan, though it is widely accepted that Hebei Province, Guangdong Province and Hainan Province are the most likely contenders and that the total storage capacity of the second phase project will be 28 million tons. (June 17, 2008)