- Advances in digital and satellite logistics — the "Amazon of oil" and just-in-time cargo trading — reduced the need to stockpile and kept prices from spiking.
- China built record strategic reserves and slashed imports (from ~11.5M to under 7M bpd), cutting global demand by roughly 5M barrels/day.
- U.S. moves — releasing SPR barrels and temporarily waiving the Jones Act to shift fuel — helped calm markets; crude only jumped to about $74 and the SPR likely won't be refilled before the midterms.
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