China talks up oil sufficiency as Trump seeks Beijing’s help on Hormuz

BEIJING — China on Monday stressed that it had enough energy resources as the Iran war restricts oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. President Donald Trump pressures Beijing to help secure the critical waterway.

China’s energy supply is “relatively strong,” and forms a “relatively good” foundation for responding to external market volatility, Fu Linghui, spokesperson at the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters in Mandarin Chinese, translated by CNBC.

The bureau also announced that China’s domestic crude oil production rose by 1.9% year on year to 35.73 million metric tons in the January to February period.

Trump said Sunday that China should help with efforts to restore oil flows through the Hormuz waterway before his planned trip to Beijing at the end of this month, The Financial Times reported. He also said he might delay his China travel plans.

Crude oil prices have have surged past $100 a barrel to near 4-year highs as flows through the Strait of Hormuz have stalled for most countries since the Iran war began more than two weeks ago. However, Iran has sent more than 11 million barrels of oil to China through the strait during that time.

Trump claimed Beijing should assist with ensuring oil flows through the strait because China gets 90% of its oil through the waterway, the report said.

However, analysts have estimated China only relies on the strait for about 40% to 50% of its seaborne oil imports, and pointed out that oil shipments going through Hormuz account for just 6.6% of China’s total energy consumption.

As of January, Beijing held an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of onshore crude stockpiles, one of the largest reserves in the world and enough to meet demand for three to four months.