China follows a simple rule of buying when it is cheap and has substantially increased the volume of crude oil imports. Everyone is aware of the continuing fall in oil prices, even if they are not related to the crude or global market. However, not many of them take advantage of the news and thus, China appears to be one of the few.
One of the major importers of black gold seized the moment and decided to boost import volumes. Last December, China’s crude oil imports hit a record high at 7.82 million barrels a day. In total, nearly 33.2 million tons of oil was shipped to China’s storage tanks over the last month, largely exceeding analysts’ estimates. An annual rate of oil imports hit a fresh high and amounted to over 335 million tons. The Chinese authorities continue to fill not only commercial storage but also strategic petroleum reserves. If China keeps on buying crude at a rapid pace, it will definitely surpass the United States in being the world’s top oil importer.
Experts say there is nothing unusual about it and attribute the surge in demand to two factors. First of all, it happened due to the growing interest from independent refineries in building up stockpiles amid the falling prices on the global market. Secondly, the demand was driven by the government decision to increase strategic petroleum reserves and create additional underground storage tanks. A forecast from China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association suggests that the national demand for crude oil is likely to climb by 5 more percent.
