SEOUL: Crude imports by South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, fell 5.2 percent in November from a year ago, as refining margins eased and domestic demand for oil products declined, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said on Friday.
South Korea imported 73.17 million barrels of crude oil last month compared with 77.2 million barrels imported a year ago, after marking the highest import growth in October since July, the KNOC data showed.
"Market demand outlook is not so optimistic due to increasing uncertainty. Refining margins also turned to deteriorate from November, triggering lower imports as refiners had no merit to build inventories," Brandon Lee, senior energy analyst at Macquarie Securities Korea, said.
"Oil product demand, including domestic and regional, is expected to recover later next year, after experiencing a slowdown in the first half."
South Korea imported 87 percent of its total 846 million barrels of crude imports in the first 11 months from the Middle East -- mainly from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, according to the KNOC data.
Its dependence on the Gulf nations for crude rose year-on-year as Seoul imported 82 percent of its total during the same period of last year.
While refinery profit margins eased to $5.18 in November after hitting a year high of $5.67 a barrel in October, last month's crude runs rose 3.3 percent year-on-year to 78.53 million barrels helped by strong regional demand.
Oil product exports gained 9.5 percent in November on the year to 34.83 million barrels, and for the first 11 months of this year marked a 19 percent year-on-year rise to a record high of 370.85 million barrels, according to KNOC data.
South Korea's domestic demand for oil products last month was at 67.23 million barrels, down nearly 3 percent year-on-year.
The country's private oil inventories at the end of November stood at 62 million barrels, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
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