Asia’s refiners are back to buying Middle Eastern oil as flows through the Strait of Hormuz rise, freight rates ease from record highs, and Gulf producers are offering their crude at discounts to regional benchmarks. Chinese, Japanese, and Thai oil refiners are increasingly preferring cargoes from the Middle East in recent weeks, even those that need to transit the Strait of Hormuz, traders with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Friday. Refiners in the world’s top crude oil-importing region are buying greater volumes…