South Korea will seek to halve its reliance on Middle Eastern crude oil by 2035, its industry ministry said on Wednesday, according to a Reuters article, seeing a diversified energy supply as a means to improve security after months of disruption from the US-Iran war.
The ministry announced the target while presenting a 10-year plan for natural resources security. The country, like most Asian countries, rely on crude oil imports and it had bought 70% of its supply from the Middle East in 2025, the article said.
The country aims to build crude oil reserves of about 20 million barrels by 2030, Reuters said, while it also aims to secure extra supplies of codensate, having faced a shortage of the petrochemical feedstock since the war began on Feb. 28.
The government will also set a cap to keep imports of Middle Eastern natural gas at 30% or less by 2035. That constitutes an increase versus the 20% level set in 2025, however. The article did not explain why Seoul would increase rather than decrease dependence on Middle Eastern gas.