據(jù)石油新聞2020年7月9日新加坡報(bào)道，由于布倫特-迪拜原油之間的價(jià)差收窄，降低了北海福蒂斯原油的購(gòu)買成本，而北美基準(zhǔn)WTI原油價(jià)格仍相對(duì)昂貴，韓國(guó)煉油商似乎將犧牲美國(guó)低硫原油的進(jìn)口增加對(duì)北海原油的采購(gòu)。

韓國(guó)國(guó)營(yíng)石油巨頭韓國(guó)國(guó)家石油公司（KNOC）公布的最新統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，今年5月份，韓國(guó)從英國(guó)進(jìn)口了205.7萬桶輕質(zhì)低硫福蒂斯原油，這是韓國(guó)煉油商自2019年8月以來首次從北海進(jìn)口原油，當(dāng)時(shí)韓國(guó)從北海進(jìn)口了202.4萬桶原油。

亞洲第4大原油進(jìn)口國(guó)韓國(guó)今年5月份還從挪威進(jìn)口了102萬桶超輕質(zhì)原油，這是韓國(guó)煉油商自2018年11月從歐洲進(jìn)口115萬桶原油以來的最大進(jìn)口量。

KNOC的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，相反，韓國(guó)5月份從美國(guó)的原油進(jìn)口量同比下降了35.7%，至740.7萬桶，這是韓國(guó)開始從美國(guó)進(jìn)口原油以來的最大降幅。

此前曾有報(bào)道稱，由于韓國(guó)煉油商不再認(rèn)為WTI、巴肯和鷹福特等級(jí)原油具有吸引力和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，作為亞洲最大的美國(guó)原油客戶，韓國(guó)準(zhǔn)備在今年下半年繼續(xù)削減從這個(gè)北美供應(yīng)國(guó)的原油進(jìn)口。

相反，包括韓國(guó)最大煉油商SK創(chuàng)新公司和韓國(guó)第4大煉油商韓國(guó)現(xiàn)代煉油公司在內(nèi)的主要煉油商表示，從美國(guó)采購(gòu)輕質(zhì)低硫原油數(shù)量的任何缺口，都可以通過購(gòu)買北海原油和凝析油來填補(bǔ)。

李峻 編譯自 石油新聞

原文如下：

S Korea shifts focus to North Sea from US for light sweet crude imports

South Korean refiners look set to increase North Sea crude purchases at the expense of light sweet US crude imports as the narrow Brent-Dubai price spread lowers the procurement cost of Forties crude, while the North American benchmark WTI remains relatively expensive.

South Korea received 2.057 million barrels of light sweet Forties crude from the UK in May, marking the first North Sea crude shipment since August 2019 when it took 2.024 million barrels, according to the latest data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp.

Asia's fourth-biggest crude importer also received 1.02 million barrels of ultra-light crude from Norway in May, marking the biggest intake from the European supplier since 1.15 million barrels received in November 2018.

On the contrary, South Korea's crude imports from the US in May tumbled 35.7% from a year earlier to 7.407 million barrels, which marked the biggest decline since the country began US crude imports, the KNOC data showed.

Asia's biggest US crude customer is poised to continue cutting crude imports from the North American supplier in the second half of 2020 as South Korean refiners no longer find WTI, Bakken and Eagle Ford grades attractive and competitive, reported previously.

Instead, major refiners including SK Innovation and Hyundai Oilbank said any gaps in light sweet crude procurement volumes from the US can be filled by North Sea crude and condensate purchases.

The country's top refiner SK Innovation used to import an average of around two VLCCs of Forties crude per month during 2018. The company then switched focus to light sweet US crude in 2019 to take full advantage of WTI's steep discount against Brent and Dubai during the period. However, the prices and arbitrage economics are back in favor of more North Sea crude purchases, a company official told this week.