SEOUL: Iran crude oil imports of South Korea fits in with a fall in 1.7 percent in December from previous year and shipments also were below the 2013 average which means that they are meeting International sanction requirements.
Preliminary customs data from the world’s fifth-largest crude oil importer showed on Thursday that Seoul imported 548,598 tons of crude oil from Tehran last month, or 129,717 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 557,836 tons a year ago.
Iranian crude shipments in 2014 were 6.2 million tons, or 124,497 bpd, down 7.1 percent from the 2013 average of 134,000 bpd, according to the data and Reuters calculations.
In 2013, the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China, struck a preliminary deal with Iran to halt nuclear work and big Asian buyers, including South Korea, should hold their crude imports from Tehran at end-2013 levels.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that he and his Iranian counterpart would seek at their meeting on Wednesday to lay the ground for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program to make greater progress.
Of South Korea’s four refiners, only SK Energy Co Ltd and Hyundai Oil bank Co Ltd import Iranian oil and their imports fluctuate each month.
Overall, South Korea imported 10.85 million tons of crude last month, or 2.57 million bpd.
The total was 8.4 percent higher than the 10 million tons imported in December of 2013, 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.
