Korea's Middle East crude imports down 37% in April amid tensions

Oil prices are displayed at a gas station in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Korea's imports of crude oil from the Middle East slipped 37 percent in April from a year earlier amid prolonged geopolitical tensions in the region, data showed Sunday.

According to data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Korea's total crude imports came to 8.46 million tons in April, down 22.8 percent from a year earlier.

Imports from the Middle East fell 37.3 percent on-year to 4.49 million tons in April, accounting for 53.1 percent of the total. The figure marks a 12.1 percentage-point drop from 65.2 percent tallied a year earlier.

Imports from Saudi Arabia, the biggest supplier, fell 37.6 percent on-year in April to 2.14 million tons, the KITA data showed.

Combined crude imports from the United States, meanwhile, rose 13.4 percent to 2.14 million tons.

The gap in import volumes between the United States and Saudi Arabia narrowed to just around 1,000 tons from 1.45 million tons in March.

In line with the government's efforts to diversify import sources, Korea's crude imports from Australia came to 440,000 tons in April, up 89 percent from a year earlier.

Imports from Canada also more than tripled to 240,000 tons in April, the data showed.

Korea's crude imports from African countries, including Nigeria, surged to 400,000 tons in April from just 60,000 tons a year earlier.

Source: Korea Times News