BEIJING, Sept. 14 -- China will not buy more crude oil while international prices remain so high, a senior cabinet official said yesterday.

　　While denying that China, a relatively small importer of crude oil, is a threat to the world on account of its increasing energy consumpti on, Zhang Guobao, vice-minister of National Development and Reform Commission, said the country will research other methods of building its oil reserves.

　　"We import only 6 per cent of the total consumption and we will not change the policy of domestic dependence," Zhang said at a press conference of the Information Office of the State Council.

　　"It would be a great financial risk for China to buy oil from the international market for its strategic reserve programme, as the current global oil price has been fluctuating at a high level."

　　Zhang, whose commission is the most powerful cabinet department monitoring economic and social development, said oil has already flowed into some reserve facilities, but he didn't elaborate.

　　China's two major oil firms, Sinopec and PetroChina, will build four reserve bases. Reports have said that three of them are in East ChinaZhenhai and Daishan near Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province, and Huangdao near Qingdao in Shandong Province as well as Xingang near Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

　　China is a relative newcomer to the idea of setting up a strategic oil reserve. Developed countries such as the United States and Japan have had them for years.

　　As for the size of China's oil reserve, Zhang said some people say it should equal 90 days of consumption, and others say a 120-day consumption.

　　"This should be determined by China's real conditions," he said.

　　The country doesn't need an oil reserve as big as that of Japan, which has to import all of its oil, Zhang added. China can satisfy most of its demand with the crude produced at home.

　　Because of China's lack of dependence on world crude, it is quite unnecessary for other countries to overreact to the growth of its energy consumption, he said.

　　"The international community should also respect China's right to develop, and the inspiration of Chinese people to shake off poverty and live a decent, well-off life," Zhang said.

　　Furthermore, he said, the world stands to gain business opportunities from China's energy growth because it will drive the development of its partners.

　　"It's really a win-win deal in energy co-operation between China and countries such as Australia and Russia," he said.

　　Zhang Jianyu, a visiting energy scholar at Tsinghua University, contends that the strategic reserve has little practical significance.

　　"I personally believe that the strategic oil reserve has more of a symbolic meaning," he said. "It is China's leverage on international oil prices."

　　At the press conference, Zhang Guobao also revealed that:

　　China boasts "better-than-expected" oil reserves, and particularly good natural gas reserves, according to a new survey conducted by his commission and the Ministry of Land and Resources.

　　China will not set up an energy ministry in the foreseeable future, as the central government has already agreed to strengthen the powers of the energy bureau under his commission. "The highest leadership believes that it is rational for an economic and development department to be in charge of energy issues in China," he said.

　　The Chinese Government has put on its work agenda the collection of a fuel tax. The topic has been long discussed in China, and more people have expressed the need for such a tax.

　　China is expected to produce 180 million tons of crude oil by the end of this year, becoming the world's fifth-largest producer. Last year, China produced 175 million tons and imported 117 million tons.

　　(Source: China Daily)