Photo : YONHAP News
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said the United Arab Emirates(UAE) has promised to give priority to South Korea amid the worldwide crude shortage stemming from the crisis in the Middle East.
Upon returning from a visit to the UAE as a special presidential envoy for strategic economic cooperation, Kang said Wednesday that he’d been told by the Emirati side that no other country will receive its oil supply before South Korea and that the country is its number one priority.
Kang said the two sides had agreed that South Korea could make emergency purchases of crude oil from the UAE at anytime and that a total of 18 million barrels would be brought in.
The presidential aide said six million barrels will be transported via three UAE-flagged vessels and another 12 million barrels aboard six South Korean vessels.
Including the six million barrels Seoul previously received from the UAE, shipped barrels will total 24 million.
Kang said the two sides will soon sign a memorandum of understanding on crude supply chains and plan to seek alternative routes.