China stockpiled huge amounts of oil before Iran war

China has stashed away far more oil than any other country, according to U.S. government https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67504&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">data released this week.

Why it matters: The stockpile, which surged last year, is emerging as a strategic advantage as the world faces an oil shock with the Strait of Hormuz largely shut.

The big picture: China is a huge winner in the Iran war due in large part to its positioning on energy, including its oil stockpile.

• It also owns over 70% of global solar, wind, battery and electric vehicle supply chains.
• Those are all seeing a boost as import-dependent countries turn from oil and natural gas to renewables.

Between the lines: "The war was the stress test that Beijing's energy strategy was designed for," Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei wrote in a https://www.axios.com/2026/04/19/china-iran-war-winner-us-military" target="_blank">recent Behind the Curtain column on China.

Driving the news: China's stockpiling surged in 2025 due to several factors, according to a https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Comment-The-drivers-of-Chinas-crude-buying-binge.pdf" target="_blank">February paper from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies:

• Relatively low oil prices tied to softer demand.
• Rising geopolitical risks, including disruptions tied to sanctions on major suppliers to China like Russia, Venezuela and Iran.
• A new domestic energy law that required companies to hold more reserves.

By the numbers: China added an average of 1.1 million barrels a day of crude to its strategic oil inventories in 2025, which reached nearly 1.4 billion barrels in December, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

• Before the Iran conflict, which began in late February, preliminary government data suggest China had continued to build inventories into this year.

Context: China doesn't report data on its oil inventories, so EIA said it estimated the inventories based on imports, exports, refining and oil inventory data from third-party and official sources.

Catch up fast: The International Energy Agency https://www.axios.com/2026/03/11/iea-oil-reserve-release-iran-war" target="_blank">coordinated the largest-ever release of oil reserves on March 11, making up to 400 million barrels available.

• China is not an IEA member and was thus not part of that release.

The intrigue: The U.S. reserve, which can hold about 714 million barrels, stood at roughly 413 million in December and has slipped to around 409 million after the March release.

• It remains well below capacity after a record 2022 drawdown following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with refilling happening gradually as officials wait for lower prices.
• That's unlikely to happen any time soon with the Iran war raging.

The bottom line: China's moves last year are looking increasingly prescient.