According to Reuters, Iranian oil cargoes haven't arrived to South Korea for three months, South Korea’s imports of oil from Iran were down 57.9 percent at 7.15 million tonnes in January-November, or 157,009 barrels per day (bpd), the customs data showed. That compares to nearly 17 million tonnes in the same period in 2017.
South Korea is usually one of Iran’s major Asian customers. Although the exact volumes it has been allowed to import under the waiver have not been disclosed, sources with knowledge of the matter say it can buy up to 200,000 bpd, mostly condensate.
Condensate is an ultra light oil used to make fuels such as naphtha and gasoline. In total, South Korea imported 12.71 million tonnes of crude oil in November, up 1.2 percent from 12.59 million tonnes a year earlier, according to the data.
South Korea’s crude oil imports from January to November inched up 0.6 percent from the year before to 131.23 million tonnes. Final data on November crude oil imports is due later this month from state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC).
