South Korean Government Says It Will Impose Export Restrictions on Oil Products If Situation Worsens

A senior South Korean official assessed on Friday that the country’s oil supply remains in a state of “emergency,” and indicated that the government may adjust refinery oil supplies or impose export restrictions on related products.

Moon Shin-hak, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, made the remarks in an interview. With the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, concerns are growing that oil supplies could be disrupted starting next month.

When asked about government oil supply management, Moon Shin-hak said, “We need to consider various contingency plans.”

Regarding South Korea’s oil reserves, he stated that reports suggest the country has enough reserves to last 208 days, but under normal economic activity, these reserves would not be sufficient for that long.

South Korea is believed to have a total of 190 million barrels of oil reserves. Moon Shin-hak explained that if the situation worsens, the government can order refineries to adjust oil supplies and implement export restrictions. He clarified that about half of South Korea’s imported oil supplies the market, while the other half is processed and exported to other countries.

“Our primary goal is to ensure that the minimum level of economic activity for the public is not affected, and secondly, to prevent disruptions in industrial production.”

Earlier this week, Seoul raised the warning level for potential oil supply disruptions to Level 2, the second-lowest alert in South Korea’s four-tier national resource security crisis warning system.

Level 2, or yellow alert, indicates that due to severe fluctuations in global markets, South Korea’s oil imports are expected to be affected.