As South Korea is looking to reduce its over-reliance on crude oil imports from the Middle East, it has increased its oil imports from the United States in recent years, which mitigates, to an extent, Korea’s exposure to a potential disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, IHS Markit said on Thursday. South Korea’s diversification from oil supplies from the Middle East intensified as the U.S. slapped sanctions on Iranian oil exports and South Korea stopped importing oil from Iran. Meanwhile, after the U.S. lifted a ban on oil exports at the end of 2015, American oil has started flowing to destinations in Asia. South Korea’s plan to diversify its oil supplies and to reduce its reliance on the oil flows in the Strait of Hormuz has started to take shape faster than previously expected, Fotios Katsoulas, Liquid Bulk Principal Analyst, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit, said […]