Middle East Oil Benefits As China Buys Less African Crude

China has long been building inroads into Africa, while the U.S. backs down from the region, leaving a gaping hole in the West’s influence over the “final frontier”. Now, however, we’re seeing all that soft power and oil-backed loans fizzle out as various think tanks note that China is increasingly choosing Arab oil over African crude.  Back in 2002, at the end of Angola’s 27-year civil war, the central African country pioneered the so-called “Angola model” wherein it received oil-backed loans from…