Power use expected to rise 13.5%

THE country’s power consumption in the first half of this year is expected to rise 13.5 percent, the Shanghai Securities News reported yesterday.

The full-year electricity usage is also expected to increase by about 13.5 percent, the newspaper reported, quoting China Electricity Council. The nation’s power demand rose to 1.51 billion megawatt hours in the first half in 2007, the council said.

CNPC starts building oil tanks in north

CHINA National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) started work on a 680 million yuan (US$98 million) project to build crude oil storage tanks in the northeastern city of Jinzhou.

The six tanks, each capable of holding 100,000 cubic meters, will store commercial crude reserves, CNPC said yesterday. The firm is building oil storage facilities in the country’s west and north to meet rising energy demand.

Unicom chief may head China Mobile

CHINA Unicom Ltd. chairman Chang Xiaobing may become chief executive of China Mobile Ltd. as part of an industry-wide restructuring due to begin this month, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday, quoting unnamed sources and a research report by Credit Suisse published late last week.