China has been stockpiling oil for years. With prices this low, it may buy more
CNNHong Kong CNN Business — Oil is cheaper right now than it has been in years. That’s great news for China — the world’s second largest consumer of oil and its biggest importer — which has been building up huge reserves and needs energy to restart its economy. While prices have recovered somewhat since then on hopes that OPEC and Russia may agree to cut production, it’s still “clearly good timing” for the world’s largest importer of crude to step in and snap up whatever it can, according to Dennis Ip, head of China and Hong Kong energy research at Daiwa Capital Markets. Last year, it imported 72% of the crude oil it used, the highest proportion on record, according to CNPC Economics and Technology Institute, the research arm of a major state-owned energy conglomerate in China. “China’s industry is coming back to life, and they need oil and lots of it,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist for Axi Corp.