The world’s fifth-largest crude importer won a six-month
waiver in November from US sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports, but did not
immediately start imports, mainly due to payment and insurance issues, Reuters
reported.
South Korea, one of Iran’s biggest Asian customers,
imported 227,941 tons of Iranian crude in January, or 53,676 barrels per day,
data from the country’s customs office showed. This was well down on 950,013
tons of Iranian crude a year earlier.
Overall, South Korea shipped in 12.46 million tons of
crude oil in January, or 2.94 million bpd, down 5.9 % from 13.25 million tons
from a year earlier, according to the customs data.
Oil shipments from Saudi Arabia, the country’s top oil
supplier, fell 4.8 % to 3.51 million tons in January year on year, as the
kingdom continued to curb its output under a supply deal led by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
In January, OPEC’s oil output fell by about 800,000 bpd
to 30.81 million bpd, and the biggest supply drop came from Saudi Arabia.
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