‘We’ve been free-riding off Beijing in a weird way’ — Oil prices are high but could be much worse. Trump has China’s Xi to thank for that

It could be much worse.

When President Donald Trump launched his war against Iran in late February, energy analysts issued dire warnings that oil prices could more than double during a protracted conflict and urged investors and motorists to buckle up for a bumpy ride.

The war grinds on and oil prices certainly remain volatile.

But the most dire projections have not yet come to pass six months into a conflict that has no end in sight.

Chinese President Xi Jinping , who is making a much-anticipated state visit to Washington next week, could make a credible argument that the world has his country’s energy strategy to thank for that.

It’s unclear how much the two leaders will discuss Iran during the visit, which comes as Trump’s Republican Party faces pressure from voters over high gasoline prices, and as China’s buffer is being further tested as the conflict in the Middle East spreads .

Trump, who has sought to keep a fragile trade truce with Beijing intact, has been careful in public comments about differences with Xi over the country’s relationship with Iran.

“We’ve been free-riding off Beijing in a weird way,” said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank.

“China’s doing it because they understand that they’re on the train that Trump is driving off a cliff.

If oil prices go way up, that hurts the global economy.

If it hurts the global economy, it hurts them.” China’s stockpiles helped Xi weather the storm — so far Beijing spent years and billions of dollars amassing the world’s largest oil stockpile, building its strategic reserve to about 1.4 billion barrels by the end of last year, according to the U.S.

Energy Information Administration’s estimates.

To protect China from foreign supply risks, Xi made energy self-reliance a part of the country’s latest five-year plan.

Drawing from the massive stockpile allowed China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer and Iran’s top buyer, to dramatically cut crude imports once the U.S. and Israel began their bombardment and Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.