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S Korea making most of Iran post-sanctions opportunities

Figures show South Korea more than doubled oil imports from Iran from January, when sanctions against Iran were lifted, until September.

The latest official figures show South Korea is making the most of the removal of sanctions against Iran by maximizing crude oil imports from the country.

Figures show South Korea more than doubled its imports of crude oil from Iran from January, when sanctions against Iran were lifted, to September.     

According to the data, imports of Iranian crude oil and condensates reached 78 million barrels in the January-September period, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Imports for the same period last year stood at 33.63 million barrels. 

Earlier, figures showed the country’s oil imports from the Islamic Republic over the first eight months of 2016 had increased by 120 percent compared to the same period last year. 

The data also showed that the Iranian oil accounted for 9.7 percent of the country's total oil imports during the cited period.

Last year, South Korea imported $2.20 billion worth of crude oil from Iran, down 51 percent from the previous year and far lower than $9.36 billion in 2011. By volume, imports of crude and condensates came to 42.4 million barrels last year, down from 44.92 million in 2014, 56.14 million in 2012, Yonhap added.

In September, South Korea's crude oil imports from Iran more than doubled from August to 12.175 million barrels, or 405,833 b/d, Platts energy news service previously quoted figures by Korea National Oil Corp. as showing.

Iran had been a major exporter of crude to South Korea, but a series of draconian US-led sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program had strongly undermined not only oil imports but the overall bilateral trade. 

In mid-January, the sanctions were removed after a deal between Iran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – over the Iranian nuclear energy program came into effect. 


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