儲油設施不足制約中國擴充戰略石油儲備

A shortage of storage may force China to curb purchases of crude oil for its strategic reserves, according to a high-ranking representative of the state oil company Sinopec.

中石化(Sinopec)的一名高級代表透露，存儲設施的短缺可能迫使中國減少爲補充戰略儲備購買原油。

The world’s largest oil importer bought a record amount of crude at the end of last year, as oil prices plunged. But the country has been unable to fully take advantage of low International crude prices to build strategic reserves because of insufficient storage capacity.

隨着油價暴跌，中國這個全球最大的石油進口國在去年底購買了創紀錄數量的原油。但由於存儲容量不足，中國無法充分利用較低的國際原油價格來充實戰略儲備。

Chen Bo, president of Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese state oil company Sinopec, told an oil industry conference on Wednesday that Chinese import demand this year would likely stay flat or rise only slightly as available storage is close to full.

中國國有石油公司中石化的交易子公司——聯合石化(Unipec)的總經理陳波週三在一個石油行業會議上表示，中國今年的進口需求很可能保持平穩或只是輕微上升，原因是可用存儲空間已接近全滿。

Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank said: “Although new storage capacities are being built, they are not yet available. Consequently, China is likely to import considerably less crude oil in the near future.” This could weigh on prices, he added.

德國商業銀行(Commerzbank)分析師卡斯騰•弗裏奇(Carsten Fritsch)表示：“雖然新的存儲容量正在建造中，但它們尚未可用。因此，中國原油進口量很可能在短期內顯著減少。”他補充說，這可能打壓油價。

China took advantage of a plunge in international crude prices to almost six-year lows at the end of the year to buy oil. December net imports rose to 7.1m barrels a day, from 6.3m b/d the same month the year before, according to customs data.

去年底，中國借國際原油價格暴跌至近六年低點之機，大量買入石油。海關數據顯示，12月的淨進口升至每日710萬桶，高於上年同期的每日630萬桶。

In January they stood at 6.6m b/d, in line with the prior year, and 6.7m b/d in February, up from 6m b/d the year before.

1月，中國的石油淨進口達到每日660萬桶，同比持平；2月淨進口達到每日670萬桶，高於上年同期的每日600萬桶。

“These numbers are still strong, but underlying demand is a bit weaker. Although gasoline demand has increased, demand for diesel and other fuels used in industry has fallen,” said Abhishek Deshpande, oil analyst at Natixis.

“這些數字仍然相當強勁，但根本需求稍稍弱一些。雖然汽油需求有所增加，但柴油和其它工業用燃料的需求有所下降，”法國外貿銀行(Natixis)石油分析師阿布舍克•德什潘德(Abhishek Deshpande)表示。

“In turn, refineries have processed far less crude in recent months and a lot of this has gone into storage,” he said.

“這進而意味着，煉油廠在最近幾個月處理的原油少得多，很大一部分原油進了庫存，”他說。

China last year announced it held 91m barrels in four locations in its first phase of strategic petroleum reserves. A second phase is in the process of being filled while a third phase is under construction, and Beijing has not released figures for the volumes of crude held in those tanks.

中國去年宣佈，國家石油儲備一期工程已經完成，在4個國家石油儲備基地儲備原油9100萬桶。二期工程正在注油，三期工程正在建設中，北京方面尚未公佈這兩期工程的儲油量。

Strategic reserves in the northern port city of Tianjin appear to be already full, Tom Reed, editor at oil industry publication Argus Media, told the FT at a conference.

石油行業刊物《阿格斯媒體》(Argus Media)主編湯姆•裏德(Tom Reed)在一個會議上告訴英國《金融時報》，華北港口城市天津的戰略儲備似乎已經滿了。

A slowdown in SPR fills would run counter to expectations of the International Energy Agency, which in a March report said China was “expected to again stockpile crude in 2015” as new storage capacity is completed.

中國的戰略石油儲備註油放緩，將與國際能源署(IEA)的預測相反，後者在3月的一份報告中表示，隨着新的存儲容量完工，中國“有望在2015年再度大量儲備原油”。

Although China is also adding commercial storage capacity, the oil price slump may discourage state oil companies from stocking up.

儘管中國也在增加商業存儲容量，但油價暴跌可能抑制國有石油公司擴充庫存的積極性。

This week, Sinopec reported a loss in the fourth quarter and warned its first-quarter profits were “estimated to be in the vicinity of the break-even” thanks in large part to the decline in market value of crude inventories purchased at higher prices.

中石化本週報告第四季度虧損，並警告第一季度的利潤“估計是在盈虧平衡點附近”，很大一部分原因就是早些時候以較高價格採購的原油庫存的市場價值下降。