Rough intentions: Why China's storage of oil reserves is a global problem

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Javier Blas 4 min Read 21 Sept 2025, 3:30 a.m. ist China is likely to continue with crude oil in 2026. (Reuters) Summary, despite the simplest explanation, low oil prices, a closer look at China’s massive build-up of the reserve indicates that a complicated strategy is underway, possibly driven by a need for energy security. The big question that upsets the global energy market is the reason why China raises so much oil. Occam’s Razor recommends that you look for the simplest explanation. The answer is perhaps just as simple as “because it is cheap.” Yet the conspiracy theorist says in me there is more to it. China has bought more than 150 million barrels – which cost about $ 10 billion at current prices – from real use so far this year. For a country that buys more electric vehicles (EVs) than any other, which requires dissection. The stocktaking was exceptionally high during the second quarter, when the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that China recorded more than 90% of the global stock -up names we can measure. It helped to support the prices this year, and with the prediction of the oil market to move in a big surplus, whether China continues its buying match or not – and if so, how long – is it important for 2026. Here we have to admit what we don’t know. At the annual Petroleum Conference in Asia-Pacific last week in Singapore, oil traders only agreed that China has the ability to store more rough. In addition, no one has a crystal ball about the duration of Chinese buying for his strategic storage, “said Ilia Bouchouev, a former oil trader and now a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. is that Chinese policy is multidimensional, so several considerations are probably intertwined. Intermediate Ru van West -texas changes about the same price as 20 years ago. Storage needs. An energy law issued on January 1 codifies strategic storage as a legitimate requirement for state -owned and private enterprises. William van Ockham, the 14th -century Franciscan Friar who made a mark on the bursary of reasoning, is likely to be proud. Tary -Nilly. Fifth place China fears a break from the US and European sanctions? China can see oil as an alternative to US treasury, a way to reduce the exposure to US assets. Commercial and strategic reasons continue to put oil in 2026, by increasing part of the expected global surplus. News updates about Live Mint.