China’s Oil Imports Are Falling

China, which has been on an oil-buying binge since the start of the pandemic, is now retreating as storage space fills up and demand for fuels in the regions it exports them to remains weak. In the final quarter of the year, Chinese crude oil imports could shed 14.5 percent from the third-quarter levels, equal to 1.7 million bpd, Reuters reported, citing IHS Markit associate director Shi Fenglei. China began to stock up on cheap oil immediately after the benchmarks crashed following Saudi Arabia’s declaration of what was effectively a price…