China to sell off portion of national oil reserves

China

BEIJING, September 15, 2021 – The Chinese government has included the sale of 7.38 million barrels of its national crude reserves in its first auction, the government announced on Tuesday.

 

The sale, set for September 24, 2021, is the first in 12 years since the country began stockpiling reserves to meet the state petroleum reserves suggestion of 620 million barrels by the International Energy Agency, which would account for 90 days of net imports.

Although the country operates nine state petroleum reserve tank farms, they represent only 243 million barrels of the suggested amount with the rest thought to be stored in commercially run tanks.

The announcement follows the USA’s similar move to sell its national reserves to eight companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron and Valero Energy due to high oil prices and national output brought down by damage caused by Hurricane Ida.