South Korea increases oil imports from Iran in post-sanctions era

Figures released by South Korea’s customs office showed that the country’s oil imports from Iran in 2016 was more than double its 2015 figures. Oil imports in December 2016 also increased about eight times greater than a year ago, indicating that the Islamic Republic is growing stronger in the global market in post-sanctions era.

One of Iran’s major oil customers, South Korea imported 14 million tons, or 281,187 barrels per day (bpd), of crude from Tehran in 2016, up 145.4% from 5.7 million tons, or 114,595 bpd, in 2015.

Figures also show that the world’s fifth-largest crude importer brought 1.55 million tons of Iranian crude in December, or 367,317 bpd, compared with 207,629 tons a year ago and 1.73 million tons in the previous month.

In November, South Korea’s Iranian crude imports more than quadrupled from a year earlier as Hyundai Chemical’s new condensate splitter boosted the country’s ultra-light oil demand from Iran.

Earlier, official figures showed that Seoul’s imports of oil from Iran in the third quarter of 2016 had doubled compared to the same period the previous year.

Iran had been one of the biggest crude oil exporters to South Korea.  South Korea imported US$9.36 billion worth of crude from Iran before the implementation of US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic in 2011.  The sanctions – that were in place until the end of 2015 – lowered the imports of Iranian crude to US$2.27 billion.

After the removal of the sanctions in January 2016, South Korea has been increasingly stepping up its imports of crude oil from Iran.