Kuwait crude oil exports to South Korea down 20.6%

Kuwait's crude oil exports to South Korea in November fell 20.6 percent from a year earlier to 11.16 million barrels, or 372,000 barrels per day (bpd), Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, quoted the latest data released by the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation as saying. As South Korea's No. 2 supplier, Kuwait provided 14.7 percent of South Korea's total crude oil imports last month. In the January-November period, Kuwait increased sales to the world's fifth-largest crude importer by 3.1 percent year-on-year to 129.11 million barrels (387,000 bpd). Overall South Korea's crude oil imports in November slid 5.5 percent on the year to 75.81 million barrels (2.53 million bpd). Saudi Arabia remained its top crude supplier, although imports from the kingdom shrank 8.4 percent from a year earlier to 784,000 bpd. The U.A.E. ranked third with 346,000 bpd, up 44.2 percent, followed by Qatar and Iran. During their talks in Seoul in September, Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil, Mustafa Al-Shimali, and South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Yoon Sang-jick, agreed to expand bilateral energy cooperation between the two countries beyond crude oil trading, such as refinery and petrochemical projects.