The Peak Of The Oil Wars - 13

Source of N. Korea's Lifeblood

The government knows that oil is the lifeblood of the economies of current civilization, including the nations within it.

For example, the government acknowledges that "Oil is the lifeblood of the American economy" (Export.gov, U.S. Department of Energy).

That is why, on this date in 2009, I pointed out: The Fleets & Terrorism Follow The Oil., and why today's post is in the series it is in (The Peak Of The Oil Wars, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

Both WWI and WWII were concerned at their core with oil related problems between nations, initiated by the U.S. embargo of oil (Wikipedia, United States freezes Japanese assets, How U.S. Economic Warfare Provoked Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor).

There is news being reported that reminds us of a quote about history: "History repeats itself, and that's one of the things that's wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow

That news concerns a statement made at the U.N. recently by the U.S. Ambassador, which was aimed at China and N. Korea:

"Donald Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday morning to tell him the time has come for China to cut off crude oil supplies to North Korea.

'We now turn to President Xi to also take that stand. We believe he has an opportunity to do the right thing for the benefit of all countries. China must show leadership and follow through. China can do this on its own, or we can take the oil situation into our own hands,' she said. It was not immediately clear what actions the United States would take, but the Treasury Department has developed sophisticated sanctions over the last decade. Those sanctions, leveraging the economic heft of the United States, can be used to lock companies out of the global financial market.

China announced in September it would reduce shipments of refined petroleum products to North Korea to 2 million barrels per year. Last year, China sent 6,000 barrels of oil products per day to North Korea necessary to keep its agriculture, transportation and military sectors running, according to the U.S. Energy Administration."

(Nikki Haley to China: Cut off oil to North Korea, emphasis added). The only way that can be done is to shut down a pipeline and/or do a blockade of N. Korea's port:

"For decades, the Chinese oil giant has sent small cargoes of jet fuel, diesel and gasoline from two large refineries in the northeastern city of Dalian and other nearby plants across the Yellow Sea to North Korea’s western port of Nampo, five sources familiar with the business told Reuters. Nampo serves North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang.

CNPC also controls the export of crude oil to North Korea, an aid program that began about 40 years ago. The sources said the crude is transported through an ageing pipeline that runs from the border town of Dandong to feed North Korea’s single operational oil refinery, the Ponghwa Chemical factory in Sinuiju on the other side of the Yalu river, which splits the two nations."

(How North Korea gets its oil from China, emphasis added). Whether that is done by China or the U.S., it would be an act of war because the nation's "lifeblood" would be cut off, and the nation would die economically.

With N.Korea having nothing to lose, then, war can be reasonably expected as a result.

UPDATE: But, since "all is fair in love and war" and since the president of the US and the dear leader of N. Korea "fell in love" we will have to look elsewhere for another oil war or another love affair.

The previous post in this series is here.