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Where does South Korea get its crude oil? Import sources 2024

In 2024, South Korea imported $84.7 billion of crude oil (136.6 million tonnes), 6.5% of the world total. Its main sources were Saudi Arabia (35%), the United States (17%) and the United Arab Emirates (14%). South Korea was the world’s 4th-largest importer of crude oil.

Summary

Value
$84.7billion
Tonnes
136.6million tonnes
Share of world total
6.5%
World rank
4th
Routes from the main sources. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Sources

The 20 main sources in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
Saudi Arabia29.5Tonnes: 47,806,530USD per tonne: $61734.8%Sea
United States14.2Tonnes: 21,795,026USD per tonne: $65316.8%Sea
United Arab Emirates11.9Tonnes: 18,577,700USD per tonne: $64114.1%Sea
Iraq7.7Tonnes: 13,904,946USD per tonne: $5529.1%Sea
Kuwait6.6Tonnes: 11,435,121USD per tonne: $5817.9%Sea
Qatar4.5Tonnes: 6,487,963USD per tonne: $6965.3%Sea
Australia2.1Tonnes: 3,094,318USD per tonne: $6872.5%Sea
Mexico2Tonnes: 3,777,583USD per tonne: $5392.4%Sea
Brazil1.6Tonnes: 2,786,923USD per tonne: $5881.9%Sea
Algeria1.1Tonnes: 1,634,336USD per tonne: $6921.3%Sea
Kazakhstan0.99Tonnes: 1,565,057USD per tonne: $6331.2%Sea
Oman0.53Tonnes: 861,558USD per tonne: $6100.62%Sea
United Kingdom0.47Tonnes: 725,102USD per tonne: $6470.55%Sea
Nigeria0.23Tonnes: 343,312USD per tonne: $6650.27%Sea
Papua New Guinea0.21Tonnes: 325,809USD per tonne: $6460.25%Sea
Ecuador0.17Tonnes: 306,853USD per tonne: $5620.2%Sea
Norway0.17Tonnes: 239,799USD per tonne: $7010.2%Sea
New Zealand0.13Tonnes: 170,495USD per tonne: $7910.16%Sea
Indonesia0.1Tonnes: 168,479USD per tonne: $6050.12%Sea
Canada0.09Tonnes: 175,660USD per tonne: $5380.11%Sea

Trend

Who it buys from

Saudi Arabia was its main source throughout the period

Value in USD billions. The five largest sources in 2024.

  • Saudi Arabia 29.5
  • United States 14.2
  • United Arab Emirates 11.9
  • Iraq 7.7
  • Kuwait 6.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
Saudi Arabia429.5
United States014.2
United Arab Emirates1.211.9
Iraq07.7
Kuwait0.426.6

Sources and methodology

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Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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