The United States became the fifth biggest oil exporter to South Korea last year. <br />And our Kim Da-mi explains why South Korea has been importing more and more U.S. crude oil. <br />South Korea was the world's number two importer of U.S. crude oil in 2018, outstripping China. <br />Last year, South Korea brought in around 61 million barrels from the U.S., which is around 6 percent of the country's total oil imports. This made the U.S. the fifth largest exporter to Korea, after Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. <br />From 2017, South Korea's imports of American crude began to grow sharply because of price competitiveness. <br />While prices of oil produced in the Middle East rose last year due to U.S. sanctions against Iran, U.S. crude became cheaper as the country increased its shale oil production. <br /><br />"One main reason is that the price gap between Dubai crude and West Texas Intermediate widened to 8 U.S. dollars per barrel last year, which led to local oil companies' preference for U.S. crude oil." <br /><br />Market observers added that the size of South Korea's oil imports from the U.S. will depend on whether WTI remains significantly cheaper than Dubai crude. KIM Da-mi, Arirang News. <br />
