On April 21, the Shanghai International Energy Exchange permitted a South China-based subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp. Ltd. to increase storage for crude oil by 20% to 500,000 cubic meters. The decision to add capacity to Petro China Fuel Oil Co. Ltd.’s tanks in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, marks the seventh such expansion the exchange has approved this month, with a total 4.15 million cubic meters of crude storage space added across China, including 2 million cubic meters in the city of Weifang in Shandong province. Chinese traders, refiners and suppliers have all flocked to hoard oil at bargain rates, which has led to a significant rise in inventory and pushed companies to expand storage capacity.
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