Watershed year in Asia
Nuclear sabre-rattling shook Asia's security foundations, but 2017 heralded breakthroughs for EVs and LNG
Parts of Asia felt like a tinderbox ready to light for much of 2017. North Korea's Kim Jong-un grabbed the world's attention with a series of muscle-flexing nuclear and missile tests. The US, under its neophyte leader Donald Trump, was all too eager to engage in the tit-for-tat one-upmanship, culminating in a mission that saw American bombers buzz the DMZ for the first time since the 1950s. Most unsettling was the bombastic war of words between Kim and Trump, which seemed to push the peninsula perilously close to another war. Meanwhile, China continued pushing its spurious claims over the vast majority of the oil-and-gas-rich South China Sea, agitating relations with Japan, Vietnam, the Phil
Also in this section
6 February 2026
The long close relationship between key supplier Qatar and pivotal buyer Japan becomes even deeper following new landmark deal
6 February 2026
Partnerships across the LNG value chain have evolved over time, growing in both complexity and importance, according to panellists at LNG2026
6 February 2026
Nigeria's mega-refinery is still trying to solve many challenges, all while its owner talks up expansion
5 February 2026
While broadly supportive of EU efforts to tackle methane emissions, representatives of the gas industry warn it could deter supply contracting if timelines and compliance requirements are not made more pragmatic






