Publication

According to China's stated policy on strategic petroleum capacity (SPR), the country plans to maintain an SPR of 500 million barrels of oil, equivalent to 100 days of consumption at normal rates. While this may be the stated policy of the Chinese government, an analysis of the existing capacities seems to suggest that China may be in a position to store much larger strategic oil reserves should it desire to increase its SPR beyond the stated 100 days. This issue brief analyses the extra capacity that China can possibly store, its financial effect, and the global implications of utilising its complete capacity of oil storage.