UANI

"South Korea's largest oil refiner SK Energy <096770.KS> will stop Iranian oil imports after the ban takes effect, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday... 'SK Energy won't lift Iranian crude oil after lifting a 2 million barrel cargo in early June,' one of the two sources said. SK Energy will not import Iranian oil for July arrival.'... SK Energy had agreed to import 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude this year under a long-term supply deal, while Hyundai Oilbank had agreed to import 70,000 bpd." (Reuters, "Exclusive: South Korea poised to halt Iran oil imports from July: sources," 5/21/2012)
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"South Korea will make sharp cuts in imports of Iranian crude from June as tightening Western sanctions make it impossible to secure insurance cover for tankers to ship the crude, industry and company sources said... With no resolution in sight, Hyundai Oilbank, one of two buyers of Iranian oil in South Korea, has decided to stop lifting cargoes from June, industry sources told Reuters. But bigger counterpart SK Energy is sticking with its plan to lift annual committed volumes at least until June. For July onwards, SK Energy, the country's largest refiner, is in talks with the government to secure insurance cover for tankers shipping the oil. If the government disagrees, the company will have little option but to halt purchases, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they are not authorized to talk to the media." (Chicago Tribune, "South Korea's Iran crude imports to plunge from June: sources," 4/26/12)

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"SK Energy will buy the additional crude, taking 130,000 bpd in 2012, up 10,000 bpd on the year, a government source said. An SK Energy spokesman declined to comment when asked about the deal... SK Energy could replace Iranian oil with imports from elsewhere in the Middle East if it needed to, although that might cost more money, an SK Energy source said." (Reuters, "S.Korea buys more Iran oil but eyes alternatives," 1/4/2012)

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"'We don't see any impact on crude imports from Iran,' a source at South Korea's largest refiner SK Energy said. 'While we cannot disclose the term import barrels for 2011, I can tell next year's oil import from Iran will continue as much as this year's.'

 An official at Hyundai Oilbank also said the term volume for 2011 will be stable from 2010. SK Energy and Hyundai Oilbank are the only buyers of Iranian crude in the country among four refiners.    Trade with Iran accounts for less than 1.5 percent of South Korea's overall trade but Iran is an important supplier of crude oil to South Korea, which imports all of its crude needs.

 Iran is South Korea's fourth-largest crude supplier. South Korea imported 67.1 million barrels of Iranian crude between January and November this year, accounting for 8 percent of the country's total crude imports, down about 10 percent from a year earlier." (Reuters, "Iran's Asian crude buyers see flow steady despite financial sanctions," 12/30/10)