China's Oil Stockpile Helps Moderate Global Prices Amid US-Iran Conflict
The war between the US and Iran has been ongoing for six months, causing oil prices to remain volatile. Despite dire predictions of oil prices doubling, the most extreme projections have not yet come to pass.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's country is being credited with helping to moderate global oil prices through its massive stockpile of oil. Beijing spent years and billions of dollars building this reserve, which currently stands at about 1.4 billion barrels.
In the early stages of the conflict, China dramatically cut its crude imports by drawing from the strategic reserve. This move helped ease global demand for oil, softening the upward price effects on the US, Europe, and other regions.
'The Chinese deserve credit,' said retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery. 'They did in 10 years what took us 25 years after the 1973 oil crisis to do: really build a kind of strategic petroleum reserve that could allow you to weather this.'