Beijing creates national oil reserve agency

Beijing announced the creation of a new government body that will act as an executive arm in China's oil reserve management system, Economic Observer reported (in Chinese). The new agency, the National Oil Reserve Center, will serve to respond to emergency cases, secure oil supply risk and national energy safety. The center will also be in charge of building strategic oil reserves; collecting, circulating and distributing oil from reserves; and monitoring supply and demand trends in the international market. China has been building oil reserve bases since 2004 to dampen the impact of fluctuations in oil supply.