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S. Korea's June Crude Imports From Iran Up

S. Korea's June Crude Imports From Iran Up
S. Korea's June Crude Imports From Iran Up

South Korea's crude oil imports from Iran increased 10.5% in June from a year earlier, as Tehran continued to ramp up output after international sanctions over its nuclear program were lifted.

Seoul imported 1.15 million tons of crude from Tehran in June, or 281,338 barrels per day, compared with 1.04 million tons a year ago, customs data showed on Saturday, Reuters reported.

In the first half of the year, South Korea's intake of Iranian oil jumped 51.5% to 9.27 million tons, or 375,597 bpd, over the same period a year ago.

South Korea is one of the main Asian customers for Iranian crude, including an ultra-light oil known as condensate.

Although Iran ranked as South Korea's second-biggest crude oil supplier in the Jan.-March period in 2017, the data showed it slid to No. 3 spot behind Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the first half of this year as Iran struggled to keep condensate shipment volumes after clearing stocks stored on tankers.

"Iran has been pumping around 3.8 million bpd in recent months and expects its oil output to rise to about 4 million bpd by the end of the year," Deputy Oil Minister Amirhossein Zamaninia said this week.

South Korea's imports from Kuwait declined 13.2% in June from a year ago to 1.53 million tons, or 374,010 bpd, according to the data. But Kuwait regained No.2 position in the first six months of 2017 with almost 11 million tons of crude shipment in the Jan.-June period of 2017, or 445,123 bpd, up 2.9% from the same time last year.

In June, oil supplies from Saudi Arabia rose 13.7% to 3.48 million tons, or 849,772 bpd, a year ago, the data noted. Korea's oil imports from the world's top exporter climbed 4.2% to 21.71 million tons in the first half of 2017.

Overall, the world's fifth-biggest crude importer brought in 11.61 million tons of oil last month, or 2.84 million bpd, up 3.2% from 11.26 million tons a year ago.

In the first six months of 2017, South Korea imported 72.24 million tons of crude, or 2.93 million bpd, up 1.8% from nearly 71 million tons over the same period of last year.

 

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