Why didn’t the oil markets go berserk? What has kept the oil markets under some check despite all the upheaval? EVs displaced 1.4m barrels of oil a day during the first half of 2026 in China, the world's largest crude oil importer. The biggest cushion the market has had was China's crude oil import behaviour, says Tsvetana Paraskova writing for Oilprice.com. By reducing its consumption and crude oil imports, China, the world's largest crude oil importer, has helped ease and stabilise the oil markets from wild swings.