Asia's oil market caught in China rivalry
Two top Chinese oil traders Chinaoil and Unipac face off in a battle for control of the region's crude benchmark
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Beijing
AN intensifying rivalry between China's two top oil traders Chinaoil and Unipec is whipsawing Asia's oil market, pitting the state-owned firms against each other in a battle for control of the region's crude benchmark.
Aggressive trading - with heavy buying by Chinaoil met by selling from Unipec - has pushed up Middle East crude prices for Asia, even as other grades are being pressed lower by a global glut.
