Japan and India also participate… “The size, timing, and method of release will be decided later”
Korea will participate in joint release of oil reserves proposed by the United States with major countries such as Japan and India.
The government announced on the 23rd that “we have decided to participate in the joint release of oil reserves proposed by the United States.”
The government explained, “The decision was made in consideration of the need for international cooperation in response to the recent sharp rise in international oil prices, the importance of the ROK-U.S. alliance, and the participation of major countries.”
“The specific scale, timing, and method of the release of oil stockpiles will be specified later,” he added.
At the time of the Libyan crisis in 2011, Korea emitted 3,467,000 barrels, or about 4% of the total oil reserves, and it is expected that the emission scale will be determined at a similar level of 4-5% this time.
A government official said, “In this case, domestic oil reserves will have a sustainable supply for more than 100 days according to the IEA international standards, so even if the oil reserves are released, it is not expected that the oil supply and demand will be affected in an emergency.”
According to the oil reserves management regulations, the government may release oil reserves when there is a disruption in domestic oil supply or when there is a joint response in terms of international cooperation.
When it is decided to release the stockpiled oil, the government issues a release instruction to the Korea National Oil Corporation, which manages the stockpiled oil, and the Korea National Oil Corporation releases the stockpiled oil by lending or selling it to a refinery.
According to the Korea National Oil Corporation, as of the end of August, Korea was stockpiling 97 million barrels of oil at nine bases across the country.
This is the amount that can be used in Korea for 106 days without importing oil as of last June.
Earlier, in order to curb the soaring international oil price, the United States recently requested major oil consuming countries such as Korea, China, India and Japan to release its oil reserves.
The international oil price (Dubai crude) rose more than 55% from $50.5 per barrel as of January 5 of this year to $78.42 per barrel as of the 22nd of this month.
/yunhap news
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