France's Le Monde: The Forward-Looking Nature of China's Energy Reserves

France's Le Monde stated that China is the world's largest oil importer, with about one-third of its oil imports coming from the Gulf region. Nearly 20 years ago, China began accelerating the layout of its oil reserve bases. Within two decades, China has formed a multi-tiered reserve system covering both coastal and inland areas. China's total oil reserves are roughly equivalent to more than 100 days of imports, providing several months of buffer in extreme situations.

The Forward-Looking Nature of China's Measures

Le Monde wrote that over the past two decades, Beijing has established an extensive reserve system to cope with similar shocks. Official data have disclosed some of the locations of the reserve bases: Zhoushan Island south of Shanghai, near Qingdao in eastern Shandong, near Dalian in northeastern Liaoning, and near Ningbo, the world's third-largest port. According to Xinhua News Agency, since 2023, China has built the largest underground commercial storage facility in Ningbo. In addition, several new storage points have been built in inland western regions such as Xinjiang and Gansu. By 2015, China had completed 8 oil reserve bases, and this number has now increased to 11.

According to estimates by Bernstein Research, China's strategic reserves combined with commercial inventories of refining companies amount to approximately 112 days of imports. Tang (音), an energy policy expert at Columbia University in New York, said that since the current issue is only the disruption of oil and gas supply in the Gulf region, theoretically, these reserves could provide a buffer period of 6 to 8 months.

While building oil reserve bases, China has also made significant investments in renewable energy, including solar and wind power, and has developed nuclear power, while continuing to use coal, which is abundant in reserves, as the basis for power generation. In addition, electric vehicles have rapidly become popular in China. The International Energy Agency expects China's oil demand to reach its peak around 2027. Tang commented, "The multiple measures taken by China in recent years have shown foresight in the current context."

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1860139760875520/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.