South Korea is moving to exercise its rights to tap crude oil reserves stored in the country's oil terminals by foreign oil firms to cope with the volatility caused by the situation in the Middle East.
According to Rep. Ahn Do-geol of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday, the government has initiated coordination with undisclosed foreign refiners over the rights to purchase oil stored in South Korea. According to Ahn, up to 6.86 million barrels of oil could be secured based on South Korea's contract with the refiners.
"We have 6.86 million barrels of oil stored by foreign refiners in oil terminals in South Korea and (the government) has the authority to use this quantity," Ahn told reporters after the Democratic Party lawmakers' meeting with senior government officials to discuss countermeasures to deal with the crisis.
Ahn did not confirm when the government would exercise its rights to do so, given the volatility of the situation in the Middle East.
This would be in addition to the administration's move to diversify sources to secure oil to brace for the possibility that the Middle East conflict could linger. Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said Friday that South Korea will receive up to 6 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
