CHINA’S commercial and strategic oil storage is almost full, a Sinopec trading executive said at an industry forum yesterday, leaving little room for the world’s No.2 oil consumer to increase its crude imports this year.

    China’s purchases to fill its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) was one of the main drivers of Asian demand since August of last year, with the nation’s importers buying cheap crude to fill oil tanks despite slowing economic growth.

    But with storage capacities approaching their limits, China’s oil imports will likely stay flat or rise only slightly this year, said the executive, who requested not to be named despite speaking to reporters at an industry event.

    China’s crude oil imports grew 4.5 percent in the first two months of the year compared to the same period a year ago, according to official customs data.

    But daily crude imports in February of about 6.7 million barrels per day (bpd) were down more than 6 percent from a record 7.15 million bpd in December, the data showed.

    While some new commercial storage is being added, it ismostly privately funded and not available for use yet, said the trading executive.

    Storage companies in China are set to boost commercial oil tank capacity by more than a tenth this year, as oil prices remain at almost six-year lows.

    Additional tanks for holding SPR supplies are not expected to be available until later this year.

    The trading executive also said that China’s diesel demand is likely to decline in the first quarter.

    “There are uncertainties in economic growth,” he said. “Diesel demand is lackluster.”

    Diesel output from Sinopec Corp. was down 4 percent in 2014, as China’s slowing economy hit demand in the transportation and construction sectors.(SD-Agencies)