The Asian country aims to pump roughly 19 million barrels to stocks in Qingdao province
AME INFO - 23/07/2015
Saudi Arabia emerges as a reliable producer for oil importers, topping the list of the largest exporters of oil to China in 2014. The kingdom accounted for 16 per cent of China’s imports of crude oil, surpassing Angola, which ranked second with a market share of 13 per cent, while Russia fell to third place with 11 per cent, reports UAE-based Aliqtisadi. Global Energy Group says that Chinese officials have confirmed that their country has moved to the second stage of the strategy of supplying strategic oil stocks with imported crude oil. Chinese officials add that, at this stage, China is aiming to pump roughly 19 million barrels to stocks in Qingdao province, taking advantage of cheap crude flows from producing countries, to fulfil the need of the Chinese economy for crude oil. China’s appetite for crude imports increased during the past ten years, in light of the growing industrial sectors’ consumption, transport and the expansion of investments in the fields of manufacturing and refineries. The country’s imports of crude oil in June reached 7.2m barrels a day, making it the largest importer of oil in the world, as China is racing to fill the strategic crude oil stocks with up to 500m barrels by 2020.
