Hormuz Crisis Pushes Asian Refiners Toward U.S. Oil

North Asian refiners have increased buying activity to secure U.S. crude oil supply as an alternative to the Middle Eastern crude that may not make it outbound from the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iran stalemate continues and the chokepoint remains effectively closed. At least four Asia-based refiners have bought U.S. crude volumes this week alone, traders told Reuters on Friday. This week, tanker traffic – and shipping traffic as a whole – at the Strait of Hormuz has slumped further, according to observable transits with AIS positioning…