Mars and Poseidon are coming to Asia. That is, those two varieties of U.S.-produced crude oil are spearheading American exporters’ direct challenge to OPEC for market share in Asia. In a shakeup to the established order, U.S. crude oil exporters are moving more cargoes toward high-growth Asia as they capitalize on favorable price differentials and […]

The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday, accusing the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs and pledging to repel any strike. In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis said North Korea engages in […]

North Korea stepped up its defiant rhetoric against the U.S. on Friday and said the U.S. is making “criminal moves for igniting a war of aggression,” according to a state-run outlet. The communist state also chided calls for negotiations for denuclearization and again slammed President Donald Trump for seeking “extinction” of North Korea through “pressures […]

President Donald Trump, in unprecedented fashion, has been able to get the Chinese government to turn the screws on North Korea in hopes of getting Kim Jong Un to halt military provocations, according to a former diplomat who has advised Republican and Democratic presidents. “The Chinese have done more under President Trump’s prodding than any […]

BP CEO Bob Dudley refused to rule out the possibility that Britain’s oil major could be poised to help develop oilfields in disputed areas of Iraq on Friday. He told CNBC that the oil giant was “flattered” to have been asked by Baghdad. In mid-October, Iraq called on BP to help develop oilfields in the […]

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emphasized diplomatic efforts instead of military ones to resolve the crisis with North Korea as he stood at the tense and heavily-fortified border between North and South on Friday, saying: “Our goal is not war.” His remarks came before U.S. President Donald Trump — who has threatened to destroy the […]

The Navy has three carrier strike groups currently in the Pacific where North Korea’s nuclear saber rattling has the U.S. and its Asian allies keeping a close watch on the pariah state. The last time the Navy operated three carriers together in the Pacific Fleet was back in 2007, and the current show of force […]

The decades-long strategic relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang is looking increasingly strained. A sure sign of that decline can be seen in a Wednesday message from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Kim Tae-hyo, political science professor at Seoul-based Sungkyunkwan University. The dictator wished Xi “great success,” according […]

The further consolidation of power in China under President Xi Jinping could help the country achieve its economic rebalancing and reform goals, Moody’s said in a report released Friday. The world’s second-largest economy announced its new leadership lineup on Wednesday after a week of closed-door meetings and internal voting. That lineup saw Xi once again […]

Australia’s High Court ruled Friday that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is ineligible to remain in parliament, a decision that has cost the coalition government its one-seat parliamentary majority. Joyce was one of seven politicians whose eligibility to sit in parliament was thrown into doubt when it was found they were dual citizens, which bars […]