South Korea has resumed it imports of Iranian oil, albeit at much lower levels than last year.
In order to ship crude to South Korea, Iran is insuring tankers to a value of $1 billion, a reversal of the usual ‘free on board’ shipment terms.
According to data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp reported by Reuters, Korea imported Iranian oil at a rate of 4.6 million barrels a day in July.
Current import levels are 42% down on 2011, more than enough to ensure that South Korea’s resumption of imports will not attract US sanctions.
According to OPEC and JODI data, Iran’s oil production is falling under pressure from extensive sanctions regimes in the Eu and US.
