South Korean major refiners shipped in 1.04 million tons of Iranian crude oil last month, or 254,653 barrels per day (bpd), more than two times higher than 485,182 tons imported a year earlier when anti-Tehran sanctions were imposed, its customs office data showed on Friday, Reuters reported.
South Korea's crude oil imports data usually includes condensate, without giving a breakdown.
In the first half of this year, South Korea imported 70.99 million tons of crude, or 2.86 million bpd, compared with 67.46 million tons, or 2.73 million bpd, in the same period in 2015.
The rise in South Korea’s oil imports from Iran follows the lifting of anti-Iran sanctions with the coming into force of a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16.