An oil reserve base in Shandong Province, which started construction Thursday, is one of eight planned nationwide that will help China Petrochemical Corp, Asia's largest oil refiner, cope with volatile global crude prices.

The 3.2-million-cubic-meter oil reserve base at Rizhao is expected to complete construction by the end of November, said the company, also known as Sinopec, in an online video clip. It did not disclose when operations will start.

Another two storage plants are also reportedly in the pipeline.

In May China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, its Hong Kong-listed unit, reportedly started building a 3.2-million-cubic-meter stockpiling facility in Tianjin which is also among the eight planned plants.

Reuters cited sources saying Sinopec plans to add a 20-million-barrel crude reserve base in Beihai in southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region by September 2011.