BEIJING, March 8 (UPI) — China will begin to fill its third strategic oil reserve in Shandong in mid-2007, the official Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.

Xinhua quoted Du Guosheng, assistant to the president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., as saying Sinopec will complete work on the Huangdao base, with an expected capacity of 19 million barrels, in Shandong.

Of China’s four planned oil reserves, two, both operational, are in Zhejiang Province; the one in Shandong is expected to be ready by the middle of the year and the fourth is planned for Liaoning Province. China has invested approximately $77.5 million to secure 10 million tons of oil reserves at the sites.

Separately, Du said China was planning to build a second set of strategic reserves that will add another 28 million tons of storage capacity. The northwest Gansu Province was chosen as one of the locations, while southern Guangdong and Hainan provinces also hope to be picked.

Du said Sinopec would complete talks with Saudi Aramco, which is looking to buy a 25 percent stake in the Qingdao refinery, which has a capacity of 200,000 bpd.

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