SK Energy International to import two cargoes of US condensates: Chief

SEOUL: South Korea’s SK Energy International will import two cargoes of US condensate over the next two months and is also looking at shipments of the light crude from Iran as part of efforts to diversify its sourcing, its top executive said on Thursday.

“We need more condensate,” said chief executive and president Hyung-kun Kim, and more options to source the ultra-light crude other than just from main supplier Qatar.

SK Energy International, a trading arm of South Korea’s largest refiner SK Energy, will take two 450,000-barrel cargoes of US condensate, one each in June and July, and is “actively considering” imports from Iran, Kim told reporters in a press meeting.

Exports of condensate from the United States resumed in 2014 thanks to the softening of a 40-year export ban on crude, and SK Energy imported one cargo last year, Kim noted.

For the June and July imports, SK Energy has already bought two US condensate cargoes from Mitsui & Co, traders said. Reuters shipping data shows one loaded on May 2 onboard tanker Hafnia Australia and is expected to arrive at Ulsan in early June.

The refiner is also looking at buying condensate out of the United States for trading purposes, Kim said.

If sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme are lifted soon, SK Energy is expecting more business opportunities with the OPEC member such as importing fuel oil, Kim also said.

In the meantime, it will look to import as much Iranian condensate as current sanctions allow, he said.

South Korea and other Asian buyers currently buy Iranian crude at sanctions-reduced volumes of just over 1 million barrels per day (bpd). Iran and six world powers are working to reach a long-term accord on ending the decade-old dispute over Tehran’s atomic activities by a June 30 deadline.

Iran’s ambassador to the Asian nation said earlier this month that Iran will aim to be as competitive as possible to win back oil sales to South Korea if sanctions on Tehran are lifted.

Asia’s No.4 economy took in 1.9 million tonnes, or 117,161 barrels bpd, of Iranian crude in the first four months of 2015, down from 2.2 million tonnes, or 135,982 bpd, in the same period last year.