Kuwait crude oil exports to S. Korea hit 400,000 bpd 

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Kuwait's crude oil exports to South Korea in 2012 grew 17.3 percent on the year to 137.65 million barrels, or 376,000 barrels per day (bpd), while its shipments last month surpassed the 400,000 bpd level, latest data showed.

Saudi Arabia sold most, with shipments from the kingdom to the world's fifth-largest energy market increasing 4.0 percent from year-on-year to 828, 000 bpd, according to the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation. Qatar ranked third with 284,000 bpd, up 11.5 percent, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Iran.

In December alone, as the nation's No. 2 crude oil supplier, Kuwaiti sales to South Korea went down 6.1 percent from a year earlier to 12.42 million barrels (401,000 bpd), providing 15.6 percent of South Korea's total crude oil imports.

South Korea resumed oil imports from Iran in October, its fifth-biggest supplier, after halting purchases in August and September in the wake of the European Union (EU) ban on insuring Iranian oil shipments. It imported 185,000 bpd of Iranian crude last month, up 24.8 percent from a year earlier. The insurance embargo, which came into force in July, is part of the EU's broader sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programs.