China has ramped up purchases into its oil reserves this year even as oil prices soared, despite calls from Washington for a global coordinated stocks release to help cool the market, industry data showed and traders said.
Earlier Washington has sought cooperated release of strategic oil reserves from China after oil prices reached $100 a barrel this week for the first time since 2014.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden said the United States was working with other countries on a new release following on from one in November last year.
The United States had announced a release of 50 million barrels from its own stocks in November and said China, India, Japan, South Korea the UK would do the same. The move came as U.S. gasoline prices soared and inflation spiked.
India, Japan, South Korea and the UK said they would release some modest volumes into the market. China, the world’s No.2 consumer and largest importer, never officially committed to the move and has been buying more for its reserves instead.
Two oil trading sources said Beijing ramped up purchases immediately after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in early February in Beijing.
“We received fresh requests (from Chinese buyers) to bring more oil into China right from the start of February,” a senior source with a major oil trading desk said, as reported by Reuters.
