Imports of Iranian crude oil to
South Korea
were suspended in July as a result of EU sanctions, which cut off insurance for
tankers carrying Iranian crude.
Yet data released Thursday showed
Seoul
imported 4.259
million barrels of Iranian crude in July.
How so?
An official from state-run Korea National Oil Corp., which compiles monthly
crude import figures from the country's four oil refiners including SK Energy
and Hyundai Oilbank--the two importers of Iranian crude--attributed the import
figure to belated customs procedures.
The monthly crude data is based on when oil shipments get customs clearance and
all the volumes "appear to have been imported before July, " but kept
in storage until they passed customs, the official said.
Officials at SK Shipping Co. and Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the companies
that had been bringing in Iranian crude shipments, confirmed that no ships
carrying Iranian crude arrived in
South Korea
in July.
An SK Innovation spokesman also said the data is "due to customs
procedures," without elaborating. SK Innovation fully owns SK Energy.
Both SK Energy and Hyundai Oilbank, which relied on
Iran
for 14.7% and 18.4%, respectively, of their crude needs during the first six
months of this year, are expected to resume shipping Iranian crude in September
using Iranian tankers.