It seems forgotten now but for about a year before all this people were confused about why the oil price was higher than it should be as they expected a glut.

This theory would suggest that China was filling giant reserves at a certain price point.

There should be enough data to confirm or deny that by now.

Weren’t the Americans also? The Biden admin drew the reserves down during a crunch and filled them back again when there was a glut of oil. I’m guessing most countries with a reserve were doing that. Oddly enough the MAGA side saw this as shenanigans (but we’re ok when Trump did the same thing, of course).