China stockpiled crude before a war started. Then the war started. Then China stopped buying crude. Oil prices did not explode. Financial journalists now credit China with saving the world from an energy crisis by executing the advanced strategy of not purchasing things.
The logic works like this. China bought oil early. Built reserves. War disrupted Iranian supplies in late February. Everyone expected prices to moon. China said no thanks, we're good. Prices stayed calm. Heroic restraint.
This is the equivalent of your neighbor hoarding canned beans before a hurricane, then not panic-buying during the hurricane, and CNN running a segment about how Kevin from Apartment 3B single-handedly prevented a grocery store riot. Kevin gets a medal. Kevin gives a speech. Kevin's technical analysis was just checking the weather app.
Retail traders spent March convinced this was their moment. Iran war meant oil calls would print. They watched TikTok videos about supply shocks. They learned the word contango. They bought USO at the top because a guy with a Lamborghini told them geopolitics was bullish. China was sitting on enough crude to fill Lake Superior while Kyle in Tampa refreshed his brokerage app wondering why his portfolio looked like a crime scene.
The funniest part is calling it helping. China did not help. China bought low and refused to buy high. That is not charity. That is just not being a f*cking moron. But we live in a world where not actively making a problem worse counts as saving the day, so here we are writing headlines about how China kept the lid on by doing absolutely nothing when it mattered most.
Kyle's calls expired worthless, but at least China's strategic petroleum reserve got a puff piece.
Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash
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