BEIJING / Reuters State oil trader Unipec will develop “really strong” ties with China’s independent refiners, said a company executive on Tuesday, even as they present a growing challenge to its parent and Asia’s top refiner, Sinopec Corp. China issued crude oil import quotas to privately run refiners, often called “teapots”, for the first time in 2015, ending decades of …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia raised 17 billion riyals ($4.5 billion) from its first local Islamic bond sale this year as the biggest Arab economy seeks funds to bridge a budget deficit amid low oil prices. The government received investor offers in excess of 51 billion riyals, three times the deal size, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Finance …

Bloomberg OPEC member Kuwait plans to start trading energy and not just producing it, joining other Middle Eastern producers eager to claw back some of the profit traders like Vitol Group and Glencore Plc earn by buying and selling the region’s oil. State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. is in talks with both commodities dealers along with some international oil companies about …