South Korea's May Iran Oil Imports Down 44 Percent On Year

South Korea's imports of crude oil from Iran fell in May from April, with its oil intake from the OPEC member in the first five months of the year holding below last year's daily average, customs data showed on Sunday.



South Korea imported 284,327 tonnes of Iranian crude last month, or 67,230 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 552,884 tonnes a month ago and 505,004 tonnes a year ago, according to the preliminary customs data.



Imports of oil from Iran often swing widely from month to month as one of South Korea's two refiners to import Iranian oil usually buys the crude only every other month.



South Korea took 2.5 million tonnes, or 121,868 bpd, from Iran in the first five months of this year, down 15 percent from 2.9 million tonnes imported during the same period in 2013 and also 9 percent less than last year's average of 134,000 bpd.



South Korea and other Asian buyers are supposed to hold their crude imports from the OPEC member at end-2013 levels - or between 1 million and 1.1 million bpd - under the terms of the Geneva accord between Iran and six major powers.



That pact took effect in January and eased some sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program.



But as China is set to take more Iranian crude than it did before tough sanctions were put in place in early 2012, Iran's top clients - China, Japan, India and South Korea - are together expected to import around 1.25 million to 1.3 million bpd in the first half of this year, industry and government sources say.



U.S. officials say that is still within the tolerance of what is allowed by the Geneva deal because most of the overage is taken up by condensate, a light crude oil.



Six major powers - the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China - and Iran are trying to reach a final settlement on Tehran's nuclear program, although diplomats say a July 20 deadline is likely to slip.



In South Korea, only SK Energy [SKENGG.UL] and Hyundai Oilbank [INPTVH.UL] buy Iranian oil.



South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, imported a total of 9.8 million tonnes of crude last month, or 2.3 million bpd, compared with 10.4 million tonnes in May last year, the customs data showed.



Final data for May crude oil imports will be released by state-run Korea National Oil Corp later this month.

Source:- reuters.com