China has reserves of over 1.5 billion barrels of oil as of 2025.
Posted by The MeidasTouch Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict2 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
The MeidasTouch PodcastSep 15, 2026
The sources disagree on China's stockpile size. The EIA, the primary estimate, puts government and commercial crude inventories at nearly 1.4 billion barrels as of December 2025, Axios reports 1.397 billion, and Reuters gives a range of about 1 to 1.4 billion, so 'over 1.5 billion' falls outside the authoritative estimates.
What was said
… She controls the oil market. It's no longer OPEC, it's She. You know why? Because he had a plan, and China had a plan. Depending on how much oil they import, they move the oil market way more than OPEC does. They bought it cheap. They have a reserve. In 2025, they have reserves of over 1.5 billion barrels. They didn't import; now they're importing. They can change the price of that market pretty damn quickly. You know what else they control? The rare earths. They control rare earths. …
The MeidasTouch Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The EIA estimates China's strategic oil inventories reached nearly 1.4 billion barrels as of December 2025, below the claimed figure of over 1.5 billion.[2]
Contradicts. Axios, citing EIA data, gives China 1.397 billion barrels as of December 2025, and Reuters puts the range of estimates at around 1 billion to 1.4 billion barrels.[1][3]
Supports. A Hanke quote and a LinkedIn summary of third-party data (Reuters, Kpler) cite China's stockpile at over 1.5 billion barrels, though the LinkedIn figure refers to total crude inventories and the Hanke quote is commentary.[4][5]
Context. China does not officially report its reserve volumes, so all figures are estimates; Wikipedia cites 1.3 billion barrels, and the reported range runs from about 1 to 1.4 billion barrels.[1][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 4 not rated
- 1China overtakes OPEC+ as the main oil price makerreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
- 2China, the United States, and Japan hold most strategic oil inventories ...eia.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 3China stockpiled huge amounts of oil before Iran war - Axiosaxios.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4How China Seemingly Weathered The Iran War Oil Stormaol.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5China Oil Imports Surge Amid Strategic Stockpiling - LinkedInlinkedin.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Strategic petroleum reserve (China) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
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