As oil enters the arena of the U.S.-China trade and economic conflict, and Washington seeks to prevent Beijing from purchasing oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, global oil and energy experts are questioning the effectiveness of this approach, and what China stands to lose, especially as it bolsters its reserves by importing record amounts of crude oil from Russia and other Middle Eastern countries despite a slowdown in economic growth.
In a discussion with "Sky News Arabia Economy," experts indicated that the decision might not affect China and offers little benefit to the United States; it could lead to adverse outcomes by escalating the economic war between the two countries, thereby pushing China to strengthen its relationships and alliances with Russia and possibly with other oil-producing countries in the region.
Several members of the U.S. Congress are working to amend funding legislation to prevent China from purchasing oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, joining dozens of bills aimed at addressing competition with the Chinese government.
The issue of strategic oil reserve sales to China resurfaced sharply after President Joe Biden announced in 2022 the sale of 180 million barrels from the strategic reserve to lower gasoline prices, which surged following the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war. In that year, U.S. oil companies sold 83 million barrels of oil to China.
In 2017, during former President Donald Trump's administration, a quantity of oil was sold from the strategic reserve to PetroChina International, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil company.
The Democrat-controlled Senate approved a bill last July by a vote of 85 to 14 to ban the export of oil from the strategic reserve to China. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, stated at the time, "This has created the illusion of solving a problem, while having very little political impact and is likely to do more harm than good."
Currently, the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is over 360 million barrels of oil, but it is nearing its lowest levels in 40 years due to the sales in 2022.
