THE government was planning to build a strategic oil reserve near the southwestern industrial city of Chongqing to help assure supplies to its inland and western regions, officials said yesterday.

The reserves would be part of a second phase of building up such strategic stockpiles. The program started with oil stored in eastern China near Shanghai, and other reserves are planned for the northeast and the south.

The Sichuan Reserves Administration Bureau and local government in Wanzhou, a district in Chongqing, signed an agreement Nov. 23 on building a reserves facility, according to a report posted on the Web site of the Wanzhou District Government.

Expansion of the strategic oil reserves reflects growing concern over the country’s energy security as crude oil prices have surged to nearly US$100 a barrel. Meanwhile, many parts of the country are facing severe fuel shortages, with demand outpacing supplies from refiners squeezed by soaring crude prices and State controlled oil product prices.

“The Central Government can’t just consider building oil bases in the eastern regions if it wants to ensure all-around energy security,” the Shanghai Securities News quoted Han Xuegong, an oil exploration expert, as saying in a report yesterday.

It said the northwestern province of Gansu was also hoping to be chosen as a site for strategic oil reserves.

China began filling its strategic oil reserves just over a year ago and now has between 2 million and 3 million tons on hand, according to domestic media reports. It plans to raise that amount to 12 million tons (94.8 million barrels) by 2010, giving the country a one-month supply.(SD-Agencies)