Korea Crude Runs Hit Eight-Month High

摘要

South Korea's refining crude throughput rose to the highest level in eight months in July, significantly pushing up product exports in the process, according to data from Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC). July refining throughput rose by 159,000 b/d compared to June, hitting 2.57 million b/d (IOD Jul.25'14). This is the highest level since last November, when Korean refineries processed 2.59 million b/d of crude. Much of the increase is likely due to SK's 260,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its 840,000 b/d Ulsan refinery returning from turnarounds by July. The startup of the new 145,000 b/d Samsung-Total Daesan condensate splitter could also have been a factor behind the increase.