China is stockpiling cheap crude in reserves
The country has a long way to go to reach its 2020 Strategic Petroleum Reserve target
There is little doubt that China has used the steep drop in the oil price to accelerate the filling of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a stockpile of crude set aside to help them ride out disasters or war. But putting a figure on exactly how much oil is in the SPR is notoriously difficult. Unlike other countries, Beijing considers its SPR a state secret and rarely discusses it. The government has said that it aims to hold the equivalent of 90 days of net imports, the standard for International Energy Agency member countries, by 2020. Assuming imports rise to around 8m barrels per day (b/d) by that time, the country would need an SPR holding of around 700m barrels to reach the target.
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
