China made headlines last week with the news that it was going to release some crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve and sell it in a move that Bloomberg called “an unprecedented intervention.” Indeed, this was the first time China announced the sale of oil from its strategic reserve. The size of this reserve is unknown as the government never releases that data, but analysts have been using satellite imaging to estimate just how much oil China has in storage. The reason for the move was, of course, oil prices . At over $70 per barrel, crude appears to have become too expensive for Beijing after producer price inflation hit a 13-year high last month, per a Reuters report. The same report cited China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves administration as saying the oil sales would “better stabilise domestic market supply and demand, and effectively guarantee the country’s […]