S. Korea Doubles Iranian Oil Imports in September
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – South Korea imported close to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude oil in September, more than twice as much as it did in August, preliminary data from Korea Customs Service shows.
The volume of crude oil exported from Iran to South Korea stood at 571,909 tons, equivalent to 139,736 bpd, in September which is more than double the August levels.
However, the East Asian country pursues a plan to reduce its oil imports from Iran in order to win waivers from the US-imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil customers.
The level of South Korea’s Iranian crude imports remain close to the target of cutting shipments for the June-November period by 15 percent to extend a US sanctions waiver another six months.
Meanwhile, South Korea remains close to the target of importing 125,814 bpd of Iranian oil that Seoul aims to achieve in the six months period through November.
SK Energy and Hyundai Oilbank are the only South refiners that take Iranian oil on a regular basis. South Korea's Iranian crude oil imports vary from month to month as one of the two Korean refiners that import Iranian oil receives the oil only every two months, according to industry sources.
In Mid-2012, the US and the European Union sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran went into effect.
The illegal US-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.