Yes, the US still outproduces China in oil by nearly a factor of three. The actual meaning of the vague title is that China temporarily buffered world crude pri

Yes, the US still outproduces China in oil by nearly a factor of three. The actual meaning of the vague title is that China temporarily buffered world crude prices. TFA notes that China controlled prices during the Iran/"Orange Idiot" war in three ways: (1) they had fortunately filled their storage during a recent price drop, (2) they restricted exports of China oil, and (3) domestic use "sharply" decreased. The article concludes that this 3-pronged approach is "manageable", but not sustainable: > But the Iran war has shown that, in practice, China can singlehandedly stabilise the global oil market over a period of many months. Leaders of the increasingly fractious oil cartel can only dream of doing the same. ■