The underground storage facility can hold 3 million cubic meters of crude oil.

Construction on China's largest underground commercial oil storage facility began in Zhejiang province on December 9th.

The underground storage facility can hold 3 million cubic meters of crude oil.

China breaks ground on a 3 million cubic meter oil storage facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang. Video : CCTV

Located in Ningbo City, the oil storage facility project was independently designed and developed by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). The project includes underground crude oil storage caverns with a total volume of 3 million cubic meters, and above-ground facilities to support operations and transportation. Upon completion, the project is expected to facilitate the rapid storage, processing, and transportation of imported crude oil, ensuring a stable domestic oil and gas supply.

Workers will excavate caverns from solid rock to contain the oil and utilize stable groundwater pressure to create leak-proof valves, providing high safety and low leakage potential. Through the application of core technologies such as full-condition storage testing, the oil storage caverns can operate for 50 years without maintenance, said Wu Guangzeng, general manager of petrochemical engineering at CNOOC.

The project is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2026, according to Liu Daping, Chairman of CNOOC's Petrochemical Import and Export Department. The facility will provide a stable supply of crude oil to eastern China and along the Yangtze River, helping to address energy emergencies and promote a balance between oil supply and demand in the region.

Currently, China's commercial oil storage facilities mainly consist of above-ground storage tanks and water-sealed caverns. Compared to above-ground tanks, the latter allows for construction and operating costs to be reduced by approximately 20% and 50%, respectively. It is also superior in terms of environmental protection, saving about 63.3 hectares of land on the same scale, while also addressing the problem of oil loss due to evaporation. More than 200 similar caverns have been built around the world .

An Khang (According to CGTN )

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