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South Korea and Japan Increase Mideast Share of Crude Imports in Q1

OIL

South Korea and Japan increased their dependence on Mideast crude oil imports in Q1 2023 taking advantage of relatively cheap Mideast crude prices and with a sharp fall in imports of Russian crude.

  • South Korea imported 2.03mbpd of Mideast crude in Q1 up by 11% or 200kbpd yr/yr according to data from Korea National Oil Corp. Imports from UAE more than doubled while supplies from Iraq and Qatar also increased.
  • Mideast's crude share of South Korea's total imports rose to 70.2% from 63.4% in Q1 last year. Japan's share of Mideast crude imports rose from 91.8% in Q1 2022 to 96.3% in Q1 2023.
  • Mideast crudes priced against the Dubai benchmark were much cheaper than competing grades priced against the Brent benchmark.
  • South Korea and Japan are among the world's biggest crude oil importers, with South Korea a major refining hub and exporter of refined petroleum products.

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