West African oil producers will next month send the most crude to Asia in at least five years, the latest sign of how refineries in the world’s biggest demand region are scouring the world to replace supplies cut by OPEC’s Middle East producers. Shipments on the trade route, among the longest for supertankers, are set to soar to 2.19 million barrels a day in February, the highest level since at least August 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from traders. China and India will be the biggest buyers. In recent weeks, a similar picture emerged from both the North Sea , where unprecedented eastbound flows have been observed, and also the U.S. “Production cuts have led to the shortage of Middle Eastern oil in Asia,” said Ehsan Ul-Haq, principal consultant at KBC Advanced Technologies . “As a result, regional refiners have been forced to buy crude from the […]