Oil-hungry Asian nations pounce on low prices to build stockpiles

Oil-hungry Asian nations pounce on low prices to build stockpiles

In Asia, India uses caverns to store its reserves; others, such as Japan, put theirs in above-ground tanks. SINGAPORE: Some oil-hungry Asian nations are taking advantage of the collapse in prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic to build up their crude stockpiles.. Strategic reserves are stored largely in secure underground depots like natural rock caverns.. The country's own storage capacity is already full but it has an agreement with the US allowing it to lease space in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.. In China, the Shanghai International Energy Exchange last month gave approval for state-owned Sinopec Petroleum Reserve to add more storage capacity.. Japan and South Korea, with ample stockpiles, have not announced plans to build up their reserves substantially.. Major oil-importers in Asia - such as China, Japan and South Korea - would in usual times benefit from low prices but this is unlikely to be the case immediately given the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.. "Oil prices are expected to remain low to some extent when the post-corona era comes, and given the current situation, it will have a positive effect on (South Korea's) economy in terms of recovery," said Jung Jun-hwan, a researcher at the Korea Energy