Did the Iran war force peak oil? | CNN Business

Chinese demand for oil has tumbled 9% from before the Iran war, according to JPMorgan. That’s the stuff of economic nightmares. For context, global oil demand fell 2% during the 2008 Great Recession. But China isn’t close to economic collapse. Despite the largest energy supply shock the world has ever seen … despite the fact that China imports 70% of its oil … despite China’s status as Iran’s No. 1 oil customer … the oil situation in China seems, well, fine. China accomplished that drop in demand not through some government-mandated effort to conserve fuel, but through rapid changes in consumer behavior. Chinese consumers have traded in gas-guzzling cars for electric vehicles and public transportation and switched international travel for nearby destinations. It’s happening elsewhere in the world, too. Some of those choices have already led to permanent changes in oil demand – even when the Strait of Hormuz reopens. In other words: We may have already hit peak oil – the point at which the world starts to wean itself off crude, never to return to its previous highs. China insulated itself from the oil shortfalls and rationing of neighboring countries in large par