China curbs oil product exports to Pyongyang, bans condensate

Bloomberg

China slapped fresh sanctions on North Korea, curbing some oil product exports to the country, after US President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions this week.
China halted the outbound shipment of condensate and liquefied natural gas to North Korea from Saturday, and will limit exports of refined oil products from Oct. 1, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
The world’s second-largest economy, which is North Korea’s largest trading partner and its main ally, also banned imports of textiles from the country, according to the statement.
The government acted after Trump ordered new sanctions on individuals, companies and banks doing business with North Korea, as he sought to further isolate the regime and increase economic pressure as a way to curb its weapons programs. The People’s Bank of China in a statement on September 11 said it had instructed lenders and other financial entities to suspend accounts subject to sanctions under a
United Nations Security Council resolution.
Under the terms of the resolution, member countries should cap refined oil-product exports to North Korea at 500,000 barrels from October 1 to December 31, and annual shipments should be limited to no more than 2 million barrels from January 1, 2018,
according to a Mofcom statement.
Trump has threatened to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea if it provokes the US or its allies and is continuing to use economic and diplomatic levers in his bid to curb the Pyongyang government’s nuclear and missile programs.
Kim responded to Trump’s remarks at the UN General Assembly in a statement on state media, calling the president “mentally deranged” and threatening to take the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.”

Oil-linked shares strong as N Korea weigh on markets
DUBAI / Reuters

Stock markets in the Gulf may have little upside on Sunday as the rhetoric over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes escalated over the weekend, but oil prices continued to firm, which may help oil-sensitive shares.
North Korea said on Saturday that targeting the US mainland with its rockets was “inevitable”. Earlier it said it might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean, in response to US President Donald Trump’s threat last week to destroy the reclusive country.The aversion to risk drove investors on Friday into assets considered safer during times of geopolitical turmoil, such as the yen, bonds and gold.
But Brent oil settled on Friday at $56.86 a barrel, the highest close since January, as major producers meeting in Vienna said they may wait until January before deciding whether to extend output curbs beyond the first quarter.Saudi Arabia’s exchange is closed on Sunday for National Day.