Reviewing Emergency Measures:
Importing Overseas Production and Exercising Priority Rights for Joint Stockpiles
Choi Moonkyu, Acting President of Korea National Oil Corporation (center), is presiding over the Oil Crisis Response Situation Room meeting related to the Middle East situation at the Ulsan headquarters on the 3rd. Korea National Oil Corporation.
As the situation in the Middle East rapidly deteriorates, Korea National Oil Corporation has begun reviewing its oil supply crisis response system.
On March 3, Korea National Oil Corporation urgently convened an 'Oil Supply Crisis Response Task Force Meeting' in response to the rapidly changing Middle East situation and reviewed its crisis response system. The corporation is currently operating its own task force in line with the government's oil supply crisis response system.
At the meeting, they focused on reviewing the preparedness of key crisis response measures, namely: the release of strategic petroleum reserves, exercising preemptive purchase rights for joint stockpiles, and the introduction of overseas production volumes. The corporation announced plans to strengthen inspections to ensure that step-by-step measures can be implemented immediately in preparation for the possible prolongation of the Middle East crisis.
Additionally, due to increased volatility in petroleum product prices stemming from instability in the Middle East, the corporation discussed strengthening daily oil price monitoring at each distribution stage, as well as measures to stabilize domestic fuel prices through services such as Opinet and the affordable gas station program.
The strategic petroleum reserves managed by Korea National Oil Corporation at nine storage bases nationwide are inventories stored for release to the private sector in the event of oil supply disruptions caused by war, natural disasters, or other emergencies. In total, South Korea holds several months’ worth of oil reserves-exceeding the International Energy Agency (IEA) recommended standard of 90 days-when combining government and private sector stockpiles.
Korea National Oil Corporation has experience releasing government reserves in cooperation with the international community, including the IEA, on five occasions: the 1991 Gulf War, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina incident in the United States, the 2011 Libya crisis, the 2022 global oil price surge, and the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war.
At the meeting, Acting President Choi Moonkyu stated, "With growing public concern over energy supply due to international instability, the corporation's role in ensuring energy security is more important than ever," and added, "I ask that both management and staff maintain a thorough state of readiness so that emergency measures according to government directives can be implemented immediately."
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