China's oil demand has proven far more flexible than markets assumed, giving Beijing unexpected sway over crude prices. During the Iran war energy crisis, the world's top crude importer slashed purchases by 40%. "We tend to joke among ourselves that China is the OPEC of oil demand," says Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler.

China went on a crash diet after the Strait of Hormuz closed. The country imported 11.6 million barrels of crude a day on average in 2025, data from the American Petroleum Institute shows. By June this year, imports had collapsed to around seven million barrels a day.