Many energy experts from around the world have been wondering, exactly how much crude oil has China been stockpiling?
Now,as The Washington Post reports,satellite-imaging may have found an answer. An imaging firm called Orbital Insight claims Chinese inventories may hold 600 million barrels. That’s substantially more than previously believed. In fact, it’s almost as much as the United States has on reserve. This is important because it could influence expectations in the world’s oil markets.
If China has larger reserves than previously believed, that means what we thought was oil demand was actually a result of strategic planning. And that means it will be harder for OPEC to drive up prices and control the world crude market. Orbital Insight said they could not discern whether the Chinese also have additional underground storage facilities.