Iran’s oil exports to South Korea at six-month high

Market figures show that South Korea’s imports of crude oil from Iran hit the highest level in six months in September in a fresh sign that the Islamic Republic is pushing ahead with plans to regain the market share it lost as a result of multiple-year sanctions.

Figures released by Reuters showed that South Korea – the world’s fifth-biggest crude importer – purchased 1.83 million tonnes – or 446,000 million barrels per day (mb/d) - of Iran’s oil last month.  

This was around 23 percent higher from nearly 1.5 million tonnes a year ago, Reuters quoted customs data as showing. 

Asia’s fourth largest economy mainly buys ultra-light oil from Iran, also known as condensate, but the data does not provide a breakdown of imports, it added.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Iran’s exports of crude oil have reached the highest level since February.

Figures released by Bloomberg show that Iran shipped 2.28 mb/d of crude oil to international markets in September.

The rise came as Iran – together with Iraq that exported 3.98 mb/d last month – took advantage of production cuts implemented by Saudi Arabia.  Lower exports by the Saudis provided an opportunity to the two neighbors to win buyers in key markets like China and the US.

Saudi Arabia’s exports were 6.68 million barrels a day, the second-lowest for this year, Bloomberg added.

While Iraq took over the Saudis in exports to the US and India, Iran outpaced the strongest forces inside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) over exports to Asian heavyweight China.

SS