China continues to set records in numerous sectors, but there are some records better left alone, including drawing near to becoming the all-time global crude oil imports leader. The country imported 10.68 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in April, according to China’s General Administration of Customs, falling just 0.8 percent off the all-time record set by the U.S. back in 2005 at 10.77 million bpd. This growing oil dependency will be exacerbated since China’s oil fields continue to mature and harder to reach and develop offshore oil resources to make up the shortfall will have to be tapped in the geopolitically volatile and contested South China Sea. As a corollary, the U.S. has rescued itself, at least in part, from over-reliance on foreign oil by the U.S. shale revolution which has seen the country become the top global oil production leader, recently pumping a record 12.3 million […]