It’s probably no coincidence that Saudi Aramco [SDABO.UL] revealed it is in advanced talks to buy stakes in Chinese refineries just as data came out showing that Russia toppled Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest crude provider in December. This was the fourth month this occurred in 2015, underscoring that state-owned Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, is facing serious competition in maintaining its market share in China, which may overtake the United States as the world’s largest crude importer in 2016. China imported 50.55 million tonnes of crude from Saudi Arabia in 2015, according to customs data, up 1.8 percent from the previous year. That is equivalent to about 1.01 million barrels per day (bpd) and roughly in line with the 1.1 million bpd in term contracts the Saudis are […]