Asia Free Trade Deal Widens Oil Supply Channels To China

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that 15 Asian nations signed last month will place South Korea and Japan in a more favorable position as oil product suppliers to China, Bloomberg has reported, noting the pact will lead to a gradual reduction in import tariffs between signatories. Thanks to their proximity to the world’s largest importer of oil, Japan and South Korea are likely to gain market share at the expense of Singapore and Malaysia, which are further from China. China imported some $12 billion worth of oil products,…