South Korea Moves Closer to Kazakh Oil Supply to Reduce Hormuz Risk
🛢️ Seoul said it has made significant progress in talks to secure crude oil from Kazakhstan and could announce the volume and logistics details early next week. The move shows South Korea is accelerating efforts to find alternative supply sources as Middle East tensions continue to pressure energy transportation.
🌍 The key point is that South Korea remains almost fully dependent on imported energy, with around 70% of its oil coming from the Middle East, while about 61% of crude oil and 54% of naphtha pass through the Strait of Hormuz. That means any disruption along this route could quickly raise pressure on import costs and the domestic refining chain.
⛽ Kazakhstan is not an immediate solution because shipping still takes around 50–60 days, but it is a constructive signal for South Korea’s medium-term diversification strategy. While waiting for the new deal to confirm actual volumes, South Korea has already secured 110 million barrels of alternative oil supply for April and May, and earlier received an additional commitment of 24 million barrels from the UAE to ease short-term pressure.