South Korea's crude oil imports from the Middle East plunged more than 37% in April from a year earlier amid fallout from regional conflict, while imports from the United States rose to nearly match those from top supplier Saudi Arabia.
According to data from the Korea International Trade Association on Sunday, South Korea imported about 8.46 million tons of crude oil in April, down 22.8% from 10.96 million tons a year earlier.
Imports from the Middle East fell 37.3% to about 4.49 million tons. The region still accounted for the largest share of total crude imports at 53.1%, though that was down from 65.2% a year earlier.
Crude imports from Saudi Arabia, South Korea's largest supplier, dropped 37.6% to 2.146 million tons. Imports from the United States rose 13.4% to 2.145 million tons, narrowing the gap to roughly one-thousand tons.
Meanwhile, crude imports from the United Arab Emirates surged 81.6% to 1.4 million tons after the government dispatched a special envoy to secure supplies.