Since the Iran war disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in early March, South Korea has been increasingly betting on the Red Sea route and the Saudi export terminal of Yanbu to load oil on tankers and ship it to Asia.
Before the Iran war began, South Korea depended on cargoes transited via the Strait of Hormuz for as much as 61% of its crude oil imports and 54% of its naphtha imports.
South Korea, one of Asia’s biggest economies and one of the largest energy importers in the region, has sought to diversify its crude imports not only with supplies from producers outside the Middle East but also via the Red Sea route. Saudi Arabia has redirected to this route the better part of its crude oil shipments amid the disruptions and threats to commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on Friday that a South Korean oil tanker successfully transited the Red Sea and is currently en route to Asia. This was South Korea’s 14th crude oil shipment to use the route since the Middle East conflict cut off most of the trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
The tanker loaded crude oil at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Port on the Red Sea before passing through the Red Sea and heading toward South Korea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, without providing too much detail of the vessel’s movements for safety reasons.
The government “considers using the Red Sea route to be the most realistic option for the time being, as the Strait of Hormuz has yet to stabilize,” the ministry said in a statement carried by South Korea’s news agency Yonhap.
However, the newly created South Korean route to load Saudi oil for Asia could be at risk as the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen are reportedly waiting for the green light from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and choke the exports via the Red Sea.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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