China has been filling its oil storage facilities at record pace, propping up global energy prices at a time demand has plummeted due to shutdown orders designed to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Over the first six months of the year, Chinese oil inventories climbed by 440 million barrels a day, dwarfing the previous record of 111 million barrels a day set by the United States in late 2014 and early 2015, according to the consulting firm IHS Markit.
“The world has never seen an increase of this magnitude in such a short period of time,” said Jim Burkhard, vice president and head of oil markets at IHS Markit. “Crude oil in storage has increased around the world as demand has fallen this year. But no geography—not even floating storage—matches the scale of China’s inventory increase.”
