China is now the world's greatest oil power

bookofjoe

https://archive.ph/0BHPf

sgt

Isn't that pretty misleading? About the production that can be cranked up / lowered as per needs, so the US likely remains the biggest oil power.

ApolloFortyNine

China = clicks nowadays I guess? The US produces more oil products than anyone else by a large margin [1] and extracts more than anyone else [2]. [1] https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=709&t=6 [2] https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/crude-oil-producti...

WarmWash

The most fascinating thing about this is how oil futures markets were able to capture this while the media was endlessly blasting stories about oil shortages. Anyone paying attention to oil prices since the start of the war has been confused about the total disconnect between oil future and the existential situation on the ground. Even the media seemed mystified by this. Well, now we all know the answer.

maxglute

Reminder PRC refines MORE oil than US. US produces more oil, but PRC massive SPR = PRC functionally a larger supplier by being able to release more, at drop of hat, than US aggregate supply lever [drilling + spr]. PRC simply storing a fuckload of oil - SPR seems enough to buffer large global disruption for months = PRC gains huge pricing power. PRC electrifying only increases their oil swing buyer leverage - they are not going to let their billions in oil infra and built out SPR to the waste. Electrification frees up refinery surplus for export and additional price control as SPR buffer / time increases. If they can backstop regional disruptions i.e. 5-10mbd per day like in Iran for few month they're functionally a "producer" with +/- $50 USD per barrel vote. Important to note this not temporary, this permanent leverage as long as PRC has world's largest oil refining capacity and largest SPR. PRC also has electrification and domestic coal to petchem stack, i.e. if oil over $70, PRC gets permanent discount on industrial inputs. Right now PRC has 30% discount, using coal to do job of oil. This another drag producer power ability on top of PRC renewable wiping demand - renewable export supply lever. Ultimately upstream oil producers are not selling barrels to consumers, they're selling finished products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel - energy), if PRC simply stores enough buffer, and have massive refining and have massive petchem, massive electrification to displace domestic demand, and massive renewable export - and it is important to recognize scale of all these categories in PRC are massive - then PRC actually has massive oil power leverage. Maybe even the greatest, because functionally they are the greatest supplier for everyday markets, including conflicts / disruptions that does not empty their SPR.