China is poised to maintain its commercial hoard of more than 200 million barrels of crude within three years even if oil rallies toward $130 a barrel. Refiners have been asked to hold inventories equal to at least 15 days of the volumes they can process, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. Stockpiles shouldn’t fall below 10 days’ equivalent even if international crude prices rise above $130 a barrel, it said in a document published on its website on Jan. 28. Brent futures, a global benchmark grade, last traded at that price in July 2008. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, has benefited from crude’s slide to below $50 a barrel, the weakest in almost six years. It already has 33.37 million metric tons of commercial crude stockpiles at the end of last year, or about 244.6 million barrels, according to Bloomberg calculations using data […]