The US is poised to gain as Western sanctions successfully push China away from Russian oil. With a new trade truce in place, US producers could fill the void left by China’s “buyers’ strike.”
The strike is comprehensive. State-owned Sinopec and PetroChina are canceling Russian cargoes due to US sanctions. Private “teapots” are shunning supplies, fearing the same fate as the blacklisted Yulong Petrochemical.
This has achieved a key Western goal, causing ESPO crude prices to plunge and hitting Moscow’s war funding.
The one missing piece is diplomatic clarity. A Trump-Xi summit ended in a “muddle,” with no public statement on oil.
This silence is a problem for refiners, who are left guessing the political risks of pivoting to new suppliers, including the US.
