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2018-01-19 12:15:00

S.KOREA'S DIVERSIFICATION

S.KOREA'S DIVERSIFICATION

PLATTS - South Korea's strong desire to diversify its crude oil import sources became crystal clear with latest government data confirming that Asia's fourth-largest energy consumer imported less barrels from its traditional Middle Eastern suppliers in 2017, while domestic refiners sharply raised purchases from North America last year.

The US and Russia stood out from the preliminary data released by Korea Customs Service earlier this week, as South Korea imported significantly more cargoes from the two non-OPEC producers in 2017, while major Persian Gulf producers saw their market share fall.

For full-year 2017, South Korea's crude imports from its biggest supplier Saudi Arabia fell 1.7% to 319.02 million barrels, compared with 324.45 million barrels in the previous year, customs data showed.

Four major Middle Eastern producers -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar -- represented 61.26% of South Korea's total crude imports in 2017, down from 66.71% in 2016.

On the contrary, South Korea has imported 1.77 million mt, or around 13 million barrels, of crude from the US in 2017, about four times higher than in 2016. Shipments from Russia grew to 140,000 b/d last year from 112,000 b/d in 2016.

Overall, South Korea imported a total 148.86 million mt (1.1 billion barrels) of crude oil in 2017, up 3.29% year on year. The growth rate in 2016 was 4.44%, while in 2015 it was 10.61%, the data showed.

Asian crude traders were not too surprised by the latest statistics from Seoul as South Korean refiners had long been under pressure to diversify crude procurement sources amid strengthening Brent pricing complex and tightening Middle Eastern crude exports amid OPEC's ongoing commitment to limit output.

"We all know South Korean refiners were one of the most active Asian buyers of North American crude oil last year ... the customs data simply proved their arbitrage activities in 2017. It was in fact economical for all Asian refiners to buy cheaper WTI-linked grades last year," said a sweet crude trader based in Singapore.

MARKET CONDITIONS STILL FAVOR US CRUDE INTAKE

Asian refinery and trade sources pointed out that current market conditions would continue to favor South Korean, as well as other regional end-users, to continue shopping for some spot arbitrage cargoes in North America.

Several Northeast Asian sour crude traders said there is less incentive for regional end-users to pick up many light sweet crude cargoes from the European and West African markets as the Brent crude complex appears expensive.

The sustained strength in benchmark Brent prices following the shutdown of the North Sea Forties pipeline in the second half of December has pushed the Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps, as well as the Brent/NYMEX crude spread to multi-month highs.

The Brent/Dubai EFS -- a key indicator of Brent's premium to the Middle Eastern benchmark that often serves as a barometer of the strength in the European crude complex -- averaged $3.40/b so far this month, the highest since June 2016 when it averaged $3.57/b.

Meanwhile, front-month ICE Brent/NYMEX spread stood at $5.51/b at 0300 GMT Friday. In comparison, the spread averaged $3.53/b in 2017, S&P Global Platts data showed.

A weaker WTI versus Brent and Dubai typically makes North and Central American crude grades priced against the US benchmark more competitive.

"Asian buyers often look for arbitrage barrels from the North Sea, Mediterranean and West Africa as well, but with such high Brent prices, they will focus more on North American supplies," said a condensate trader at a South Korean refining and petrochemical company.

In addition, the recent string of monthly official selling price hikes from major Middle Eastern producers could further prompt South Korean refiners to cut their dependency on Persian Gulf supplies and raise their US crude intake going forward, market participants said.

Earlier this month, Saudi Aramco raised the OSP differentials for its Arab Super Light and Arab Extra Light crude grades loading in February and destined for Asia by 20 cents/b and 10 cents/b respectively to $5.95/b and $3.15/b to the Oman and Dubai average.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has set its retroactive December OSPs for Murban and Das Blend grades at $64.85/b and $64.50/b respectively, equivalent to premiums of $3.25/b and $2.90/b to Dubai or 42 cents/b higher compared to November.

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Earlier:

 S.KOREAN LNG
2017, December, 18, 12:30:00

S.KOREAN LNG

PLATTS - South Korea aims to boost the portion of LNG in its electricity generation mix to 18.8% in 2030 from an estimated 16.9% this year as part of efforts to reduce its heavy reliance on coal and nuclear, the energy ministry said.

 

 S.KOREA'S SOLAR UP
2017, November, 24, 09:05:00

S.KOREA'S SOLAR UP

FT - OCI — the world’s third-largest polysilicon maker by capacity and South Korea’s biggest — this month reported a 3,373 per cent increase in operating profit to Won78.7bn ($72m) for the July-September quarter, its best performance in five years. Rival Hanwha Chemical saw third-quarter net profit jump 25 per cent to a record Won252bn. 

 

 U.S. - S.KOREA BUSINESS
2017, June, 30, 08:30:00

U.S. - S.KOREA BUSINESS

South Korean companies announced plans to import more American shale gas and build new factories in the U.S. as the two countries' leaders prepare to hold summit talks in Washington where trade is expected to be a key issue.

 

 LNG  OVERSUPPLY
2017, April, 3, 18:40:00

LNG OVERSUPPLY

Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS), Japan's JERA and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) [SASACY.UL] - whose joint liquefied natural gas volumes account for a third of global LNG trade - are attempting to cement a shift in power from producers to importers amid a supply glut that is expected to persist into the early-2020s.

 

 THE LARGEST LNG IMPORTERS
2016, August, 25, 18:35:00

THE LARGEST LNG IMPORTERS

Japan, South Korea, and China are the three largest importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, accounting for more than half of global LNG imports in 2015. Combined LNG imports in these countries averaged 18.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015, a 5% (0.9 Bcf/d) decline from 2014 levels and the first annual decline in these countries' combined LNG imports since the global economic downturn in 2009.

 

 S.KOREA'S OIL UP 4.5%
2016, August, 18, 18:40:00

S.KOREA'S OIL UP 4.5%

The world's fifth-largest crude importer has continued to buy more crude oil from Iran since sanctions were lifted in January. Shipments of Iranian crude more than doubled to 7.22 million tonnes, or 248,616 bpd, in the January-July period of 2016 from a year earlier, according to its customs office data.

 

 SOUTH KOREA: BECOMING A HUB
2014, July, 24, 17:50:00

SOUTH KOREA: BECOMING A HUB

Arctic Ice Melt Seen Freeing Way for South Korean Oil Hub

Tags: S.KOREA, OIL