據石油新聞2020年7月9日新加坡報道，由于布倫特-迪拜原油之間的價差收窄，降低了北海福蒂斯原油的購買成本，而北美基準WTI原油價格仍相對昂貴，韓國煉油商似乎將犧牲美國低硫原油的進口增加對北海原油的采購。

韓國國營石油巨頭韓國國家石油公司（KNOC）公布的最新統計數據顯示，今年5月份，韓國從英國進口了205.7萬桶輕質低硫福蒂斯原油，這是韓國煉油商自2019年8月以來首次從北海進口原油，當時韓國從北海進口了202.4萬桶原油。

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

KNOC的統計數據顯示，相反，韓國5月份從美國的原油進口量同比下降了35.7%，至740.7萬桶，這是韓國開始從美國進口原油以來的最大降幅。

此前曾有報道稱，由于韓國煉油商不再認為WTI、巴肯和鷹福特等級原油具有吸引力和競爭力，作為亞洲最大的美國原油客戶，韓國準備在今年下半年繼續削減從這個北美供應國的原油進口。

相反，包括韓國最大煉油商SK創新公司和韓國第4大煉油商韓國現代煉油公司在內的主要煉油商表示，從美國采購輕質低硫原油數量的任何缺口，都可以通過購買北海原油和凝析油來填補。

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.