With oil prices at half what they were a year ago and crude flooding into Asia from all directions, buyers from the west coast of India to southern Japan are, for the first time in decades, spoiled for choice. The changing balance of power is already affecting the regional market share of key producers. With a full return of Iranian supplies now looming, following a nuclear accord this past week, competition will likely heat up further. Oil consumers, mainly the refineries that turn crude into products such as gasoline and jet fuel, face a dilemma in this “new normal” era. Do they stick with multiyear contracts with long-established suppliers, primarily from the Middle East, or buy more oil on spot markets, getting cheaper prices but risking security of supply? Asian refiners, located far from major oil-producing regions, previously have tied up as much as 95% of their crude intake […]