China's Oil Scramble Sends African, Canadian, Latin American Crude Prices Soaring

China's Oil Scramble Sends African, Canadian, Latin American Crude Prices Soaring China, the world's largest oil importer, is bidding up crude prices across Africa, Canada, and Latin American markets as disruptions in the Hormuz chokepoint and limited Iranian supplies intensify competition for alternatives. The scramble is squeezing smaller Chinese refineries that once relied on heavily discounted Iranian barrels, according to a new Bloomberg report.  The renewed Chinese buying marks a major shift from a period when subdued Chinese buying helped restrain crude oil prices. With Iranian exports almost entirely shut off by the...