By KUNA
Tokyo : South Korea’s crude imports from the Middle East fell 2.8 in December from the previous month to 62.07 million barrels, as imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar decreased.
But Seoul’s heavy dependence on the Middle East further went up by 2.2 month on month percent point to 84.0 percent and exceeded 80 percent for five months in a row from August, due to the decline in shipments from Asia and Africa, according to the latest data released by the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation.
The dependence on the region showed a downward trend early this year compared with the last year, when the international oil prices were stabilized. However, fueled by recent soaring prices, the imports of Middle East crude, whose average import price is low and possible to import stably by long-term contract, has been expanding.
South Korea, with its heavy industrial base, is the fifth-largest oil importer and seventh-largest consuming nation in the world. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and Qatar are the largest suppliers of oil to South Korea, which is Kuwait’s second-biggest importer of oil after Japan.
South Korea’s overall crude oil imports in December shrank 5.3 percent from the previous month and 7.6 percent from a year earlier, respectively, to 73.89 million barrels. The fall came as the refining input of crude stock increased, while the operation rate maintained almost the same level as November.
The average unit price of crude imports went up by USD 4.19 per barrel from the previous month to record high USD 88.49 for the fourth straight monthly expansion. Despite the drop of Dubai crude price, as the average import price of Arab Light, Kuwait and Murban crude rose, which took up about 70 percent from the nation’s total crude import, average unit price of crude imports rose.
The amount of crude imports fell 0.6 percent to USD 6.54 billion, accounting for 19.2 percent of South Korea’s total amount of imports in December, due to declines in the average unit price and amount of crude imports.