South Korea Extends Emergency Oil Supply Measures Amid Middle East Tensions

The South Korean government has decided to extend emergency supply measures for naphtha and petrochemical products due to concerns about oil and feedstock supplies in the Middle East. The measures, which were set to expire at the end of this month, will be extended to manage the supply situation from September onward.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol stated that the government has secured August volumes of crude oil and naphtha at 100% of the average level a year earlier, but the outlook for future supplies is uncertain. To mitigate this risk, the government plans to encourage the import of alternative volumes for the oil supply chain.

The government will also restart a strategic oil reserve swap that had ended in late June. Under this measure, the government exchanges oil from its strategic reserves for crude that companies are seeking to import. The government had ended the reserve swap as it lowered its resource-security alert level following a U.S.-Iran cease-fire agreement.

Koo emphasized that the government will take all-out measures to stabilize supplies and expand joint international stockpiling. The government will also bring reserve volumes into storage early.