Saudi Aramco announced on 21 July that it has successfully closed its RMB24.6bn ($3.4bn) purchase of a 10% stake in China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical. Rongsheng is a major buyer of Middle Eastern crude, and as part of the deal Aramco will supply 480,000 b/d of crude oil to Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical’s (ZPC) 800,000 b/d refinery – Rongsheng holds a 51% stake in ZPC (MEES, 31 March). Saudi Arabia is already the largest supplier to ZPC, but this transaction entrenches its dominance and could push out volumes from other major Gulf suppliers such as the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait. Kpler figures indicate that ZPC is the second largest buyer of Adnoc’s Upper Zakum crude grade - the Abu Dhabi firm intends to launch an Upper Zakum futures contract in the near future (MEES, 10 March).