The Asian country thus joins the initiative of US President Joe Biden.
This is an unusual consensus in times of geopolitical tension: China confirmed on Wednesday that it will draw on its oil reserves in order to push back the price of crude, thus adding to an initiative launched by US President Joe Biden.
Biden on Tuesday announced a “bigger” initiative to lower black gold prices: drawing on 50 million barrels of oil from America’s strategic reserves, the largest volume ever released.
The United States indicated that this decision is made in parallel with other major energy consuming nations, such as China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.
The White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, specified that these countries “had already announced” to release part of their reserves, or that they had the intention of doing so.
Without naming the United States, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, confirmed on Wednesday that China was joining the maneuver.
“China, depending on its needs and circumstances, will use its oil reserves and take other necessary measures to maintain market stability,” the spokesman said.
Zhao did not specify when this would occur or how much oil Beijing will put on the market.
According to the financial agency Bloomberg, Biden would have discussed this initiative during his first summit by vice conference last week with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The joint initiative seeks to mechanically lower prices with the increase in supply.
Joe Biden blames oil companies for the hike
The decision comes at a time when gas station prices continue to rise in the United States, posing a major political problem for Biden, especially on the eve of Thanksgiving, a holiday in which Americans celebrate. They travel across the country to reunite with their families.
But Biden also accused the big oil companies of being partly responsible for the spike in gasoline prices.
“The wholesale price of gasoline has fallen 10% in recent years, but consumer prices have not dropped by a single penny,” he said.
Usually, the United States makes little use of its reserves – currently 609 million barrels – located in Louisiana and Texas, and dedicated to cases of natural disasters or international crises.
One of the leaders of the Republican field, Senator Lindsey Graham, denounced in a statement an “abuse” in the use of these reserves, destined according to him to cases of “emergency”.
The issue is particularly sensitive, especially for Joe Biden, whose main objective is to make life easier for his country’s middle class, discouraged by globalization and the Covid-19 pandemic.
To finally reach a consensus on oil reserves, Washington and Beijing put aside their rivalry, as China is also one of the world’s largest oil consumers.
Attempts by the United States to pressure producing countries, especially Saudi Arabia, to increase their supply have so far not worked. (I)
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