China’s accelerated crude oil stockpiling could be coming to an end with oil at $70 and the possibility that strategic reserves are close to capacity, suggesting that the world’s largest oil importer could slow down crude builds and crude imports. In April, China is estimated to have tapped its crude reserves, according to calculations of Reuters columnist Clyde Russell based on official data. Refiners processed more crude oil last month than the sum of its imports and domestic oil production. This suggests that China used around 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) out of its reserves, according to Russell. China’s refinery throughput increased by 7.5 percent annually in April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Refinery throughputs averaged 14.09 million bpd , up from 13.1 million bpd in April 2020 and slightly up from 14.08 million bpd processed in March 2021. But Russell’s estimates point to imports […]