*South Korea, the world’s number four crude importer after China, India and the US, has, alongside fellow US ally Japan shunned Russian crude since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
*This has left Middle East crude making up an increased chart of the country’s import slate. The Mideast share hit an average of 73.8% for the first nine months of 2023 up from 67.8% for the year-earlier period. This puts this year on pace for the highest share since at least 2018. Indeed, the Mideast share has trended higher in recent months, hitting 77.2% for Q3, the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2018. (CONTINUED - 315 WORDS)
