China played a big role in supporting oil prices in 2025 as it accelerated crude stockpiling and absorbed part of the additional supply that producers put on the market. Despite the easing of the OPEC+ cuts, the large supply growth from the Americas, and the continued flow of sanctioned Iranian, Russian, and Venezuelan barrels for most of 2025, oil prices did not collapse. International crude benchmarks held steady at about $60 per barrel, which China apparently considers cheap enough to buy more crude than it immediately needs and put it in commercial…