Oil Corporation, Early Purchase of 640,000 Barrels of Stockpiled Oil Amid 'Low Oil Prices'

Strategic Oil Reserves Increased by 280,000 Barrels This Year, Exceeding Plans

Photo by Korea National Oil Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As low oil prices persist, the government is expanding its crude oil reserves this year. As of the end of last year, the crude oil reserve stood at 96.5 million barrels.

On the 9th, the Korea National Oil Corporation announced that it will purchase 640,000 barrels of reserve oil this year, which is 280,000 barrels more than originally planned.

The reserve oil consists of 490,000 barrels of crude oil and 150,000 barrels of diesel.

This measure follows the government's decision to make early purchases of reserve oil due to the sharp drop in international oil prices.

The Oil Corporation held a bid for some quantities earlier this month.

According to the 4th Oil Stockpiling Plan (2014?2025), the goal is to secure a total of 107 million barrels of reserve oil by 2025.

Under this plan, 360,000 barrels were originally scheduled to be purchased within the year.

However, as oil prices plunged to the $20 per barrel range, the government decided to increase the purchase target to 640,000 barrels and to make early purchases by taking advantage of the low oil prices.

A Korea National Oil Corporation official said, "We plan to hold bids for the remaining quantities at an appropriate time later, considering the oil price situation. Securing reserve oil as much as possible during the low oil price period is expected to help strengthen our country's energy security."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.