韩国将重点从美国转向北海进口轻质低硫原油

据石油新闻2020年7月9日新加坡报道，由于布伦特-迪拜原油之间的价差收窄，降低了北海福蒂斯原油的购买成本，而北美基准WTI原油价格仍相对昂贵，韩国炼油商似乎将牺牲美国低硫原油的进口增加对北海原油的采购。

韩国国营石油巨头韩国国家石油公司（KNOC）公布的最新统计数据显示，今年5月份，韩国从英国进口了205.7万桶轻质低硫福蒂斯原油，这是韩国炼油商自2019年8月以来首次从北海进口原油，当时韩国从北海进口了202.4万桶原油。

亚洲第4大原油进口国韩国今年5月份还从挪威进口了102万桶超轻质原油，这是韩国炼油商自2018年11月从欧洲进口115万桶原油以来的最大进口量。

KNOC的统计数据显示，相反，韩国5月份从美国的原油进口量同比下降了35.7%，至740.7万桶，这是韩国开始从美国进口原油以来的最大降幅。

此前曾有报道称，由于韩国炼油商不再认为WTI、巴肯和鹰福特等级原油具有吸引力和竞争力，作为亚洲最大的美国原油客户，韩国准备在今年下半年继续削减从这个北美供应国的原油进口。

相反，包括韩国最大炼油商SK创新公司和韩国第4大炼油商韩国现代炼油公司在内的主要炼油商表示，从美国采购轻质低硫原油数量的任何缺口，都可以通过购买北海原油和凝析油来填补。

李峻 编译自 石油新闻

原文如下：

S Korea shifts focus to North Sea from US for light sweet crude imports

South Korean refiners look set to increase North Sea crude purchases at the expense of light sweet US crude imports as the narrow Brent-Dubai price spread lowers the procurement cost of Forties crude, while the North American benchmark WTI remains relatively expensive.

South Korea received 2.057 million barrels of light sweet Forties crude from the UK in May, marking the first North Sea crude shipment since August 2019 when it took 2.024 million barrels, according to the latest data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp.

Asia's fourth-biggest crude importer also received 1.02 million barrels of ultra-light crude from Norway in May, marking the biggest intake from the European supplier since 1.15 million barrels received in November 2018.

On the contrary, South Korea's crude imports from the US in May tumbled 35.7% from a year earlier to 7.407 million barrels, which marked the biggest decline since the country began US crude imports, the KNOC data showed.

Asia's biggest US crude customer is poised to continue cutting crude imports from the North American supplier in the second half of 2020 as South Korean refiners no longer find WTI, Bakken and Eagle Ford grades attractive and competitive, reported previously.

Instead, major refiners including SK Innovation and Hyundai Oilbank said any gaps in light sweet crude procurement volumes from the US can be filled by North Sea crude and condensate purchases.

The country's top refiner SK Innovation used to import an average of around two VLCCs of Forties crude per month during 2018. The company then switched focus to light sweet US crude in 2019 to take full advantage of WTI's steep discount against Brent and Dubai during the period. However, the prices and arbitrage economics are back in favor of more North Sea crude purchases, a company official told this week.