PetroChina unit to add 6.55 mln bbls oil tanks in 3 yrs
BEIJING, Nov 5 (Reuters) - State-owned PetroChina's (0857.HK) (601857.SS) north China unit aims to boost its oil storage capacity in the coming three years to ensure energy security, according to the company-run China Petroleum Daily.
The north sales branch plans to add 6.55 million barrels, or 1.04 million cubic metres of holding capacity from 2009 to 2011, to form a developing structure of "large logistics and large networks", it said.
The report did not elaborate on the estimated investment for the plan or how much capacity had been completed.
PetroChina, Asia's top oil producer, finished building a major commercial oil storage base with capacity of 1.3 million cubic metres in Daxie Island, Ningbo of Zhengjiang province in mid-October.
China's oil firms, private or state-owned, have been rapidly expanding oil storage in response to Beijing's call to boost reserves to buffer against future supply shortages.
For a factbox on China's sites for commercial oil storage, please click [ID:nPEK304931]. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
