South Korea’s oil imports from Iran during the first 11 months of 2017 increased 36.5% to nearly 17 million tons, or 372,890 bpd, compared with 12.45 million tons over the same period of last year, according to the customs data.
Although, South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil fell 9.5 percent in October from the previous month as the Middle Eastern country cut crude and condensate exports to Asia due to production setbacks, Reuters reported.
South Korea, one of Iran’s main Asian clients, brought in 1.65 million tons of Iranian crude in October, or 390,675 bpd. That is a 9.5-percent decline from 1.83 million tons in September, but still up nearly 83 percent from last year.
Iran is South Korea’s main supplier of ultra-light oil, also known as condensate, but the data does not provide a breakdown of imports.