0833 GMT - China's rapidly expanding electric-vehicle fleet is emerging as an important buffer against disruptions to oil imports, reducing the country's reliance on refined fuels for road transport, the IEA says. Based on charging data from China's National Energy Administration and the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, the Paris-based agency estimates that EVs substituted more than 1.5 million barrels a day of Chinese road-fuel demand in the second quarter of 2026. That was 620,000 barrels a day more than a year earlier. According to the IEA, the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz is now set to hasten a structural decline in Chinese gasoil and gasoline demand, with consumption projected to fall by 4% from 2025 to 2027.