"Kim Gyo-hyun, CEO of Lotte Chemical (011170.KS), South Korea’s No.2 petrochemical maker, told the Global Commodities summit he did not think oil prices would spike due to tighter sanctions because the world has much larger crude oil stocks than it did in 2012. “We are not short of oil,” he said." (October 2017)
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"Hyundai Oilbank Co , South Korea's smallest refiner by capacity, has bought its first Iranian condensate cargoes to prepare for trial runs at a new refining unit in its joint venture with Lotte Chemical, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. Condensate, an ultra-light form of oil, is mainly used to produce chemical feedstock naphtha. Hyundai's plant is one of several to come online across Asia and the Middle East, boosting demand for condensate. Hyundai bought two cargoes of about 1.1 million barrels loading in June and August ahead of the start-up of its new splitter, the sources said. The first cargo arrived last month and the second cargo is expected to arrive in early September along with 1 million barrels of Qatari condensate, they said. Hyundai Oilbank's joint venture with Lotte Chemical, known as Hyundai Chemical, is expected to start trial runs of the new 130,000 barrels-per-day splitter in Daesan on the country's west coast in August-September and to start commercial production in the fourth quarter, a company's spokesman said." (Reuters, "Hyundai Oilbank buys first Iranian condensate for new splitter - sources," 8/12/2016).
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“South Korea, Asia's largest buyer of condensate, will step up purchases of the ultra light oil from Iran by more than 50 percent in June, two sources said, as competitive pricing squeezes out rival oil from Qatar. While South Korea does not provide separate data on imports of condensate, traders said the expected June shipments from Iran of at least six million barrels, or 200,000 barrels a day, would be a record level. Iranian condensate imports could gain further momentum in the fourth quarter, if Iran clinches a deal with Hyundai Chemical to supply the company's new splitter. Talks between Hyundai Chemical and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on a term supply deal are under way, a third source familiar with the matter said. South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, has more than doubled its oil imports from Iran in the first four months of this year to about 248,000 barrrels a day after Western sanctions on Iran were removed in January… Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank Co and Lotte Chemical, could be Iran's next customer as it is due to start trial runs at a new 110,000-bpd splitter in Daesan on the country's west coast in August-September, trade sources said. Iran's South Pars Condensate (SPC) could make up more than half of the unit's feestock, one source said.” (Reuters, “South Korea's condensate imports from Iran to soar in June,” 6/9/2016)