China is almost out of space to hold the oil that domestic traders bought at bargain-basement prices earlier this year when the Covid-19 pandemic crushed global crude demand, reported Caixin.
As of Wednesday, China had used up 69% of its crude oil storage capacity with the 33.4 million tons it had stockpiled, up by 24% from the previous year, according to data from energy information provider Oilchem China. That’s only 1 percentage point away from the 70% threshold that experts view as the country’s capacity limit.
In May, China’s oil imports jumped 19.5% to 47.97 million tons, bringing the country’s cumulative imports for the year to 216 million tons, according to China’s customs agency.
Authorities have moved to deal with the issue by allowing some storage sites to expand their capacity and by granting some companies the rights to sell petroleum products abroad.