According to customs data, South Korea’s crude oil imports in June and the first half of 2020 went down on the back of the lower demand affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, the country imported 10.04 mt of crude oil or 22.45 million bpd. The figure showed a drop of 12.6% year-on-year. For the first six months of the year, South Korea’s total crude oil intakes slumped by 7.9% year-on-year to 66.95 mt or roughly 2.7 million bpd.
South Korea’s top oil supplier in June was still Saudi Arabia, with an increase of 7.8% on a yearly basis at 3.96 mt or 967,165 bpd. Mexico showed a 21.7% jump year-on-year to 707,669 tonnes or 172,907 bpd and was in the fourth position.
On the other hand, imports from other major crude suppliers slumped last month. Crude imports from the US plunged by 39.2% year-on-year to 661,367 tonnes or 161,594 bpd. Imports from Iraq also flopped by more than a half, to 584,942 tonnes, or 142,921 tonnes.
South Korea’s final crude oil import data would be released by state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) later this month.
