> The answer given was “why use ours now? We use everyone else’s until it’s all gone, and then we use ours”.

I think that's the lie, not the real answer.

I don't know about China, but an unused oil well fills with sand very quick in most regions. Production can't be restarted after that. A new well is needed.

That doesn't mean they can't abandon an oil well that still have oil with the intention of digging another one later, it's just very expensive to do it.