Crude oil imports into China last year hit the highest ever, reaching 11.55 million barrels daily, or a total of 557.73 million tons, up 4.4% on 2024, Reuters reported today, citing official statistics.
The December total was also a record high, the data showed, at an average daily of 13.18 million barrels for a total of 55.97 million tons.
The data casts doubt on claims that Chinese oil demand is shrinking irreversibly, driven down by the electrification of transport. On the other hand, some of the oil that China imported last year has gone into storage.
Higher Chinese purchases have helped support oil prices despite the OPEC+ production hikes and persistent concerns about the growth rate of global oil demand amid inconsistent U.S. trade policies and tariffs.
From March 2025 onwards, “we started to see a very impressive rate of stockpiling, like close to one million barrels per day,” Frederic Lasserre, global head of research and analysis at commodity trading giant Gunvor, said in September.
China will continue amassing crude oil in strategic and commercial reserves well into 2026, according to Lasserre. The filling rate is about 60%, which suggests that China has room for additional stockpiling of inventories, Lasserre said.
Indeed, China has been building new oil storage capacity – and a lot of it. Over 2025 and 2026, a total of 11 new storage sites are slated to be built across the country, Reuters reported in October last year, noting that the combined capacity of the new sites would come in at some 169 million barrels.
The amount is equal to two weeks’ worth of crude oil imports, Reuters also said. It compares to new oil storage capacity additions of between 180 and 190 million barrels for the period between 2020 and 2024, according to data from Vortexa and Kpler.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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