SEOUL– South Korea is reviewing the possibility of releasing its strategic oil reserves after the United States made a request in an effort to bring down soaring energy prices, Seoul officials said Thursday.
Reuters earlier reported that the Joe Biden administration has asked South Korea, Japan and other large oil-consuming countries such as China to consider releasing their crude stockpiles to ease oil price surges driven by strong demand amid recovery of major economies from the pandemic.
“We’re internally reviewing the matter with relevant ministries,” the official said. “We’ll make a decision as we watch the movements of other countries that have also received the request.”
The U.S. request came as the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have turned down calls from Washington to ramp up their oil production.
As of end-August, South Korea had some 98 million barrels of strategic oil reserve, an amount enough to last 106 days without crude import.
Source: Yonhap News Agency