Taiwan’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) inventories remain stable and sufficient amid tensions in the Middle East, with crude stockpiles at about 140 days, well above the 90-day legal requirement, and LNG inventories at about 12 days, exceeding the 11-day requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.
Imports have so far remained normal, with CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) receiving about three crude oil cargoes and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) about one this month, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei.
Next month, four to five crude oil cargoes are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan, he said.
Photo: AP
About 60 percent of the oil is sourced from the US, he added.
Meanwhile, a very large crude tanker, the FPMC C Lord, is en route to Mailiao Port in Yunlin County, carrying about 2 million barrels of oil, he said.
With Taiwan consuming about 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day, the shipment could support domestic demand for more than half a month, he added.
Combined with four additional shipments scheduled to arrive this month, energy and petrochemical feedstock supplies are expected to remain stable, Kung said.
Domestic asphalt inventories and production capacity are sufficient to meet demand through the end of June, he said.
CPC has begun overseas procurement, while Formosa can increase refining output as crude arrivals increase, Kung said.
The ministry would assist in coordinating supplies if public construction projects face delays due to asphalt shortages, he added.
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