China’s Next Power Move: Hoarding Oil After Gold—Here’s Why

Gold wasn’t enough. Now, China’s gobbling up oil reserves like it’s discount day at a Wall Street fire sale.

The Strategy: Bulk Up or Bail Out?

Beijing’s playing chess while everyone else plays checkers—stockpiling hard assets as geopolitical tensions simmer and the dollar’s dominance gets shaky. Oil’s just the latest hedge in their trillion-dollar game of monopoly.

Cynical Finance Bonus:
Because nothing says ‘stable economy’ like hoarding commodities while your real estate sector implodes. Priorities!

China Starts Stockpiling Oil: Here’s Why

China has begun oil procurement from March and April, not due to demand, but due to refiners building up stockpiles. There is no surge in consumer demand, but the Xi Jinping administration is aggressively increasing its onshore oil inventories. Ample tank capacity is still remaining despite the accumulation and could store further in the coming months.

Emma Li, Senior Market Analyst at Vortexa, wrote in an analysis on China’s procurement. Falling WTI prices also add to China’s benefit as they accumulate at cheaper prices and sell when it go higher.

Though stockpiling tactics are frowned upon in the commodity markets, China has shown little to no concern about oil hoarding. Reports indicate that the Communist nation might continue hoarding until Q3 of 2025. It is planning to make the most out of the WTI decline to its benefit and build a bigger stockpile.