The US will not be able to deprive China of oil

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to TASS on the role of the Strait of Hormuz crisis plays in the economic confrontation between the United States and China.

"To say that the purpose of these operations is to deprive China of oil is a conspiracy exaggeration. At most, this is just a side task, especially in the part of Venezuela where, indeed, supplies are limited. But it's not about depriving China of oil, because it can always find alternatives: in Russia and in other countries," the expert noted.

According to him, the operations against Venezuela and Iran, of course, had an anti-Chinese orientation, but rather it was geopolitical rather than economic. A related goal may be an attempt to deprive China of cheap resources and force it to buy oil at a market price. Belogoryev stressed that Beijing's presence of a Russian alternative undermines this approach in many ways.

The expert added that China was well prepared for the oil crisis, thanks to the large strategic reserves accumulated last year, as well as the ability to quickly switch to substitute goods, in particular, synthetic fuels.

The country's active electric mobility plays an important role in the oil sector, and the opportunity to switch to coal in the gas sector.

"Therefore, it will not be possible to damage China in this way by simply cutting off supplies for several months. It is clear that China is losing economically, but it is losing along with the rest of the world," the expert concluded.