SEOUL: South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil surged 81 percent in March from the same month a year earlier in the wake of sanctions being lifted targeting Tehran’s nuclear programme, customs data showed on Friday. Seoul brought 1,032,938 tonnes of Iranian crude oil last month, or 244,240 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 570,338 tonnes imported a year ago, the data showed.
In the first three months of the year, the world’s fifth-largest crude importer brought 2,956,497 tonnes, or 699,068 bpd, of crude from the Middle Eastern country, versus 1,401,138 tonnes in the same period in 2015, according to the data. Iran, which wants to regain market share after the lifting of sanctions in January, told OPEC it raised output last month by a minor 15,000 bpd to 3.40 million bpd.
The world’s biggest oil producers will meet in Doha on Sunday to discuss a proposed output freeze at January’s levels. Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh will not attend the meeting, but will send a representative.
Overall, South Korean imported 11.52 million tonnes of crude last month, or 2.72 million bpd. The total was 4 percent higher than the 11.12 million tonnes imported in March of 2015, the customs data showed. Final data for last month’s crude oil imports will be released by state-run Korea National Oil Corp later this month.
