US Energy Secretary Steven Chu will visit Riyadh on Monday but it is Beijing's allure that has intensified for oil suppliers in 2008 and 2009, as demand grew more in China but contracted in the United States and Europe at the same time.

Saudi Arabia has boosted exports to China and the flow of crude from the Kingdom to the United States has fallen. The latter hit a 22-year low during 2009 as recession slashed fuel use and Saudi Arabia led OPEC supply cuts to match supply with demand.

Developing countries will soon consume more oil than industrialized nations. Emerging economies would account for 47 percent of global oil demand in 2010, up from 37 percent in 2000, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA believes demand in developed nations has peaked.

Saudi Arabia position as OPEC's top oil producer and holder of a fifth of the world's oil reserves also gives it the advantage over other producers when competing for new markets.

Energy-hungry Asian refiners, often state-owned, are eager to guarantee future energy supply through long-term deals with the country most able to supply them.

"No single producer is really going to challenge the Saudi position in China in the long run," Kirsch said. "China is a key market and Saudi doesn't want to lose market share there. It doesn't want to lose out to Russia and Iran. And that's part of why they will continue to push for long-term refinery deals in China." One such is for supply to China's Fujian refinery, in which state-owned Saudi Aramco holds a 25 percent stake. Riyadh plans to ship 200,000 barrels per day to Fujian this year after start up in 2009. Aramco is also looking to invest in a second Chinese refinery, a 200,000 bpd plant in the eastern port of Qingdao.

Other producers are plotting similar deals with China.

Kuwait wants to build a refinery while Qatar is eyeing investment in a petrochemical plant.

With little chance to sell existing or additional supplies elsewhere, producers are also fighting to sell more to China in the short-term. Saudi Arabia agreed to boost crude supplies to China by 12 percent in 2010 from 2009, Kuwait by about 50 percent, while Iraq said it would more than double its flow.