Crude-oil tankers anchored offshore the port of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Reuters Steady energy demand in the world’s second-largest oil-consuming country has been a saving grace for the oil-tanker market, with much of the credit going to one Chinese oil trader: China International United Petroleum & Chemicals Co., better known as Unipec. Unipec was the No. 1 charterer of oil tankers for the second year in a row in 2013, beating global oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC in both years, according to consulting firm Poten & Partners. Unipec accounted for 791 fixtures—or agreements to hire tankers for specific routes—last year and also accounted for the largest volume of cargo transported, at 171 million metric tons, or 11% of the total, the data show. Shell trailed with 752 fixtures and less than half of Unipec’s volume, at 83 million tons. A decade ago, Unipec didn’t even figure among […]