Over the first 6 months of 2020, China’s crude oil inventories will increase by 440 million bbl. This dwarfs the largest ever 6-month increase in US crude stocks during late 2014 and early 2015, just 25 percent the size of the inventory build currently underway in China.
On a daily average basis, the peak of China’s stock build was 4.8 million b/d in February. The size of China’s inventory build was believed to have been a source of support for an otherwise exceptionally weak crude oil market which has faced record-level falls in crude demand and negative oil prices in April due to the impacts of COVID-19.
