Tag: oil

  • China reduces Iran oil buy as US and EU sanctions loom

    The United States and the European Union’s increasingly firm stance against Iran’s nuclear ambitions have, as my colleague Raymond Karam writes, potentially undermined the security of mideast oil supply. In the face of sanctions, Iran has had one relatively stable customer in China, but The Telegraph reports today that China has reduced its oil purchases…

  • Is Venezuela selling oil to China instead of to the U.S.?

    The United States is importing less oil from Venezuela, and China is buying more. Is Venezuela putting its resources where Hugo Chávez’s mouth is and using the country’s major export as a geopolitical lever? Or are U.S. imports just catching up with a 10-year decline in Venezuelan production? The U.S. Energy Information Administration released April…

  • 'Malaysia Bans Foreigners'? Look again.

    An inexplicably terse headline has been making its rounds in my news feeds for the last couple of days. It would be big news, if only it were true. “Malaysia Bans Foreigners,” cries the headline of an AP story published at the International Herald Tribune. Well, no. The article outlines how non-Malaysian vehicles are being…