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China was on track to finish building its first strategic oil reserve storage tanks by August, but China had not indicated when it might start filling them in the face of high oil prices, an industry official said Friday.

The world's second-largest oil consumer after the United States would finish the crude oil tank farm in Zhenhai, located in the port city of Ningbo in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, on schedule with plans announced last year, he said.

The 5.2 million-cubic-meter facility will hold about one-third of China's initial planned emergency reserves, the foundation of State efforts to bolster energy security as consumption soars and domestic output plateaued.

"The entire infrastructure in Zhenhai will be completed by August. But prices are so high right now and it is not clear when China will kick off emergency stockpiling activities," the Chinese official said.

A top government official said last week that China would gradually build up its emergency stockpile, lessening the impact on global energy prices.

He did not say when China could begin filling the tanks, a move being closely monitored by oil traders fearful that even a modest build will add stress to a taut global crude market that some fear may struggle to meet global demand later this year.

China’s oil demand is forecast to rise by almost 8 percent this year to nearly 7 million barrels per day, half last year’s explosive growth rate but still increasing its dependence on foreign crude.

It now imports 40 percent of its oil needs and the growing reliance on imports has moved energy up the political agenda, especially as prices have clung above US$50 a barrel.

China has also earmarked three other sites for strategic stocks along the eastern seaboard, aiming to build a total of 16.2 million cubic meters of reserves in the next five years, equivalent to 20 days of consumption.

The other crude oil tanks will be in Aoshan in Zhejiang, Huangdao in Shandong and Dalian in Liaoning.