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How Much Crude Oil is China Stockpiling?


Claire.

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China may be stockpiling more oil than anyone realized.

One of the mysteries of the oil market is the question of how much crude oil China has squirreled away in commercial and strategic stockpiles.

Now a satellite-imaging firm called Orbital Insight claims to have an answer. It says Chinese inventories in May stood at 600 million barrels, substantially more than commonly thought and nearly as much as the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Chinese storage capacity, which includes working inventory, is four times widely used estimates, Orbital Insight says, adding that the firm has not only counted storage tanks but has also used imaging techniques to figure out how much oil is in the tanks.

The issue could influence expectations in oil markets. If China has built larger reserves than previously estimated, that means much of what looked like oil demand over the past couple of years was not a result of higher consumption but of strategic planning. It would make OPEC’s task of cutting output to drive up prices­ more difficult. And it could provide a buffer for China in the event of a sudden disruption in imported supplies.

Read more: The Washington Post

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China is a country we shouldn't sleep on. Forget Russia, China is a quiet giant

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Chinese are buying up while oil and gas is cheap. If the Chinese economy is powering on at the rate of 7-8% like they say it is, then i doubt those reserves will last long. 

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  • 1 month later...

600 million might sound like a lot but look at all the cars and stuff there it would last a year maybe

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11 hours ago, coolguy said:

600 million might sound like a lot but look at all the cars and stuff there it would last a year maybe

It'd last them longer than it would the USA.

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Its all part of the 25 year, 30 year 50 year plan by China, which as seen them stock pile natural resources in the same fashion over a number of years its already estimated in many areas they have 12 years worth. China needs to sustain its 1.3Billion population and economic expansion. China is creating a 100 millionaires a week as a example of economic growth, the middle classes are expanding though the vast majority are poor especially in the poorer rural areas.

China is a prisoner of its geography, secure in its borders, the Himalayas to the west and the Gobi to the North, the vast distance from the Russian border in the north east means China would be alerted to any invading army and with long supply lines any invasion attempt would be pointless - China though vast, the vast majority of people, economy, agriculture and infrastructure is built on the North plain. and this plain is unable to sustain and drive the economic growth required by the one party state. So china relies on importing the vast majority of its resources arriving by Sea, as it currently stands the Chinese do not have mastery of the Sea lanes beit the south China Sea, the east china sea, - all routes from China are monitored by differing nations, the route to the Indian Ocean is via the South China sea, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia all monitor these waters and have economic if not territorial claims. to the East we have the  East China sea monitored by South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. most of the countries are allied to the USA.

China fears and rightly so her economic growth can and could be affected or even blocked by a foreign power. The south China sea being a crucial sea trade route with 11Billion barrels of oil a day and over half the worlds liquefied gas passing through the area its a strategically important part of the world. Its why we see China acting in the south China sea building these artificial islands to extend its territorial claims a 1,000 miles from mainland China and so asserting Chinese interests, securing the sea lanes to the Indian Ocean and the world beyond. The stockpiling of resources and materials are the consequence of fragility surrounding the Governance, (one party state) and economic growth that's required for over a billion people.

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