The world’s biggest oil importer. The title nobody wants. For decades the U.S. held undisputed rights to the crown. Last year, China squeaked ahead for the first time amid growing demand and as rising U.S. shale production displaced overseas deliveries. The Middle Kingdom looked poised to become the center of the crude importing world. Then $30 oil happened. U.S. drillers shut the most rigs in modern history, production began to fall and imports have rebounded. Chinese oil firms also shuttered output and kept demand growing. Now the two are neck and neck. “I don’t think any country would want to boast about being the world’s largest importer of crude,” said John Driscoll, chief strategist at JTD Energy Services Pte in Singapore. “Who gets more nervous during OPEC meetings? Who’s more vulnerable to supply disruptions, geopolitics or resource nationalism?” The one group with no reason for dismay is the Organization […]