KNOC to import 5.3mln barrels of Azerbaijani crude oil

State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said on Monday that it will import a combined 11.3 million barrels of crude from Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates to meet this year's co-stockpiling target of 40 million barrels by year-end, Reuters reported.

KNOC had signed a contract to import 5.3 million barrels from State Oil Co of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) this month, it said in a statement prepared for an assembly hearing.

It also signed a deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) to import 6 million barrels, the statement said. At the end of August, KNOC had co-stockpiled 27.4 million barrels with 12 oil producers and majors. KNOC also said it would buy 150,000 barrels of crude oil in early October for South Korea's strategic reserves.

At the end of August, South Korea held 117 million barrels in strategic reserves and had purchased 2.25 million barrels so far this year, 94 percent of the year's purchase target.

South Korea aims to build strategic reserves to 141 million barrels at nine locations across the country by 2013. From the reserves, KNOC released a total of 1.519 million barrels of oil products and 1.948 million barrels of crude oil under an International Energy Agency plan to bolster supplies earlier this year.

According to a KNOC spokesman, most of the release to local refiners was paid back by the refiners' crude oil and products.


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