South Korea imported no Iranian crude for the fourth straight month in December due to the re-imposition of US sanctions on Tehran, while intakes from the US and Kazakhstan rose sharply as alternative sources, data released late Wednesday by Korea National Oil Corp showed. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now South Korea has fully suspended crude imports from Iran since September 2018, marking the first time Asia’s fourth biggest oil consumer has taken no Iranian cargoes for more than three months since September 2012, amid then US-led sanctions on Iran. For the full 2018 year, Iranian crude imports plunged 60.1% to 58.2 million barrels from 147.87 million barrels in 2017. The 2018 import volume was the smallest since 2015, when South Korea imported 42.4 million barrels. To make up for the loss of Iranian barrels, South Korea’s crude imports from the US surged […]