Chinese are coming back into the oil market
Sharmine Narwani @snarwani — China jumping into the markets is one reason oil prices have spiked so significantly. The Americans now have a problem: they can't demand China stop purchasing Iranian oil – they need Beijing's help in negotiating a settlement with Iran, in advance of Xi's visit to Washington.
China is attempting to refill its oil reserves.
Chinese crude imports rose +2.2 million tons in August, to 37.9 million tons, marking their 2nd consecutive monthly increase.
This brings the 2-month increase to ~9.0 million tons, or a ~33% recovery from the total drop between… pic.twitter.com/G41gFmySm7
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) September 12, 2026