The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on the 1st that of the 24 million barrels of crude oil it agreed to urgently bring in from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 6 million barrels will be completed by mid-month.
According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), of the 6 million barrels first agreed with the UAE on the 6th, 2 million barrels began unloading at a domestic port on the 30th, and an additional 2 million barrels are scheduled to be unloaded in early to mid-month. The 2 million barrels of UAE international joint stockpile that had been stored in Korea have already been delivered to domestic refiners.
The remaining 18 million barrels are also proceeding smoothly. Secured during the visit to the UAE by the Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik as a special envoy with the Strategic Economic Cooperation Delegation on the 15th to 17th, the 2 million barrels under the international joint stockpiling program with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) were already unloaded on the 25th at the Korea National Oil Corporation's Yeosu oil stockpiling base. As operations partially resumed at an alternative UAE port that had been temporarily shut down after a recent attack, the 2 million barrels contracted by private refiners were loaded on the 29th and are scheduled to arrive in Korea in mid-month.
The government believes the remaining volumes will also be brought in sequentially, as it received a promise from the UAE side that "Korea is the top priority" in crude oil supply.
Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said, "Amid a global energy supply chain crisis, we preemptively secured 24 million barrels, laying a key foundation for stabilizing crude oil supply and demand," and added, "By securing strategic alternative supply lines that bypass geopolitical risks such as the Strait of Hormuz, we maximized supply chain flexibility."