Reuters breaks news of Beijng's plan for govt refined fuel reserve

Reuters was alone on May 6 with the news that China had decided to build strategic reserves for 10 million tonnes of refined oil products by 2011. The scoop by Beijing correspondent Eadie Chen, who learned of the plan from a well-placed source, showed that China, which is already rushing to expand its crude oil reserves, may be looking to create a buffer against future price shocks by setting up the reserve base, which would be twice the size of a proposed U.S. fuel reserve. Chinas state reserves agency has emerged as a major driver of world commodity markets since the start of the year. The new fuel bank would extend Beijings buying power and could be an important source of demand and play a swing role to stabilise China`s fuel prices.