South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude could restart as early as September, following a complete halt caused by EU sanctions on marine insurance.
Major South Korean refiners Hyundai Oilbank, SK Energy are in talks to see if Tehran can provide the insurance coverage, reported to be around $1 billion, required for shipments of Iranian crude to resume.
According to a Reuters report, Iranian tankers may also ship the crude, a change to the usual free-on-board arrangement for crude shipments.
In 2011, South Korea relied on Iran for little under 10% of its oil supply, and has since 1 July struggled to make up the difference, approaching GCC producers.
On the basis of a reduction in exports from 2 million bpd to 1.1 million bpd, Iran is thought to be losing $110 million a day due to the latest sanctions.
Japan continues to import reduced volumes of Iranian crude under a sovereign insurance arrangement.
China continues to buy around 520,000 bpd of oil from Iran. The country’s clout has meant that, despite largely rejecting US pressure to reduce imports, it has been granted a waiver to US measures that would otherwise see it shut out of the US economy.
