Beijing will try to ensure energy supplies during the Olympic Games with extra stockpiles of oil, liquefied petroleum gas and coal, officials of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission said on Monday.

An official said that there would be a new inventory management system during the Olympics, which will guarantee stocks of thermal coal in excess of the normal level of 300,000 tons. Oil product inventories would exceed 300,000 tons as well.

He noted that a daily reporting mechanism would be used to monitor the energy stockpiles.

Beijing has also taken measures to reinforce energy safety during the Olympics, such as completing municipal grid projects that aim to meet a maximum load of 14.6 million kilowatts for 2008.

The government is also working on a plan to ensure that 6.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas is supplied to Beijing in 2008.

The official also said that Beijing would limit its total energy consumption in 2008 to 65 million tons of coal equivalent, so that the energy intensity of its economy would be reduced by five percent.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2008)