The South Korean oil refining corporation Hyundai Oilbank has bought condensate in Norway for the first time.
Two sources of the agency Reuters reported that the deal is due to the fact that the company is looking for alternative sources of hydrocarbon supplies if the United States introduces new sanctions against Iran.
Interlocutors of the agency claim that other consumers (SK Energy and Hanwha Total Petrochemicals) of ultra-light oil are also looking for new suppliers. As for Hyundai Oilbank, the corporation bought 700 thousand barrels from the Norwegian Statoil.
Earlier it was reported that the National Iranian Oil Company reduced by 3 million barrels the monthly supply of condensate from the South Pars gas condensate field to South Korea. The Iranian side explained the decline in exports with the increase in the processing capacity at its own Persian Gulf Star Oil Refinery.
As noted by Reuters, in the first quarter of this year, Iranian condensate supplies to Asia decreased by 39% – to 348 thousand barrels per day.
“Today, many parties are trying to diversify supplies, because they do not want to be cut off from raw materials in case of imposing new sanctions against Iran in May,” a source at one of the processing plants in South Korea told Reuters.
So far, Qatar has won from the decrease in supplies from South Pars, the agency notes. Its condensate is now sold at the highest price this year.
