Samsung Total Petrochemicals Company resumed imports from Iran by purchasing 30,000 tons of Kangan condensate, planned to be delivered to its plant in the port city of Daesan in March, Reuters reported on Friday.
Samsung Total -- a joint venture between South Korea’s Samsung Group and France’s energy giant Total -- experienced a sharp 90% fall in operating costs in the second quarter of 2012 after it stopped importing Iranian oil due to the sanctions.
“The deal can be easily understood if you look at Samsung Total's financial situation,” a Korean government source was quoted as saying.
Based on the new deal, South Korea’s oil import from Iran is expected to increase 10,000 barrels per day.
In December 2012, South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude increased by almost a fourth compared to a year earlier.
According to statistics released by Korea Customs Service on January 15, Seoul purchased 793,361 tons of Iranian oil last month.
At the beginning of the 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors.
On October 15, 2012, EU foreign ministers agreed on another round of sanctions against Iran.
The illegal US-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
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A Franco-Korean petrochemical company has revived a contract, stalled one year ago, to resume buying Iranian oil in defiance of Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
News ID 184065
